The Taming of the Stubborn Inuyoukai
by Blade Redwind
Summary: Her grandfather had a habit of giving her unusual presents for her birthday, any holiday really. But a fude brush? At least it was better than mummified cat she got last year. Who knew using said fude brush would find her in possession of one inuyoukai lord; one who'd been cursed by his own mother to serve others until he learned duty and humility. [Post series end.]
1. Chapter One

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The Taming of the Stubborn Inuyoukai

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><p><em>It's been one week since you looked at me<em>

_Threw your arms in the air_

_and said "You're crazy"_

_Five days since you tackled me_

_I've still got the rug burns on both my knees_

_It's been three days since the afternoon_

_You realized it's not my fault_

_not a moment too soon_

_Yesterday you'd forgiven me_

_And now I sit back and wait til you say you're sorry._

—_One Week - Barenaked Ladies_

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>| Unexpected Gift; Unexpected Time

How had she forgotten her umbrella? How?

Kagome sighed as she held her leather messenger bag over her head, back of it facing the sky in some vain and failing attempt to keep the rain off her person, and, to keep her university books intact.

Really now, life shouldn't be quite so difficult on her birthday. Was Kami-sama punishing her for recording over her brother's favorite anime last week with that documentary on ancient sword technique? You'd think Souta would have been a bit more interested in the latter… then again, she'd probably all but driven her little brother mad with her obsession on anything old that was sharp and pointy. At least her Jii-chan appreciated her passion.

Although, really, that wasn't saying much. The old geezer annoyed everyone in the house with the old ways and crack-pot schemes.

Gah! _I'm turning into my grandfather!_

She shut her eyes tightly as she ran and shook her head. Black hair would have jerked and bounced were it not dampened by the torrential downpour.

_I'm such an idiot, honestly. No wonder Souta thinks I need medication_.

She should have irritated with that proclamation from her sibling, given that much of her time in high school had been wrought with lies about her health just so she could juggle both her studies and finding the jewel shards. But, her brother meant nothing by it, really. He just liked to prick her pride now that he was older.

What had happened to the sweet boy who didn't mind distracting Inuyasha while she caught up on her homework?

_Such a brat_.

Now he just griped at her for TV time; it was a ritual now that they had a billion channels—fighting over who had control of the remote when they weren't working at the books, or, when Kagome wasn't busy in the shrine yard going through her forms. Really, it'd be more fun if her brother would practice with her; she'd not only get to work up a sweat against another human being, but, they could figure out who got the TV that day. Rock, paper, scissors was just too easy.

Though, even her friends thought the obsession that had bloomed a good six years after the well closed was altogether unusual. And they wanted to know why; why did she suddenly spring forth this crazy desire to collect, study, and use all things deadly—specifically ancient katanas, wakizashi, and tanto. It was simple really; she just couldn't tell them truth. The truth was beyond them. The truth meant telling them she was searching for something she'd left some five-hundred years ago in Edo; it meant telling them that she believed that if she could find the swords, trace to where they come or gone, that she'd be able to find Inuyasha, Shippo, and maybe even Kouga—her friends. It meant believing they were still alive and happy. It meant finding out if Miroku and Sango had ancestors.

That obsession… it kept the tears at bay; the wish that she could go back to that place just as she had done before whenever she wanted. How had she taken that for granted? Going back and forth, thinking the well would always be open to her? Had she really thought that at fifteen? Or, had she simply ignored that it would happen one day; that one day she would never be able to go back?

Over the last six years it turned into more. The more knowledge she absorbed, the more she traced one weapon to another, one story to the next, the more she took trips to collector's homes and museums… the more that desire to learn how to use that which she studied arose.

At that point her friends had all began to wonder if she was going to remain single for the rest of her life. And she knew this had not a thing to do with her studies, but rather everything to do with how she filled her schedule with said obsession.

TV time fighting with her brother was really the only moment she cut a break; and not because she didn't already know more than half of what was talked about on those documentaries. No, really it had everything to do with it just being convenient and easy to flop down and indulge on all she knew to be wrong and right about the history of said obsession.

Plus, annoying her brother had its bonuses.

Especially when he was being a little asshole.

Kagome gave an exhausted sigh as she rounded the corner on the sidewalk into the shrine. Steps were taken in leaps with an abuse of power granted her in the form of miko pink energy. But, really, whatever Kami punished miko would surely cut her a break, right? It was pouring, for heaven's sake. She'd been punished enough.

On her birthday!

She sighed again, this time in relief, as she got the front door and slipped in quickly. Water rolled off her form and dripped down on the wood flooring where shoes sat in a row.

"Mom!" Kagome called as she slipped hers off, bouncing on one foot at a time with a grunt. Her sneakers were soaked, socks almost beyond rescue; they had to be.

"Kagome…?"

The twenty-one year old looked up as her mother came in, brown eyes blinking at her only daughter while she wiped her hands on her apron.

Kagome grinned sheepishly as she wiggled her bare toes, socks in one hand—also dripping. "Uh… so it's raining."

Her mother chuckled softly and then laughed easily. "Thank you for the weather report, Kagome. Would you like me to get you a towel?"

"Yes, please," she said all at once, shoulders slumping in defeat. "I had a very long day. This was just the icing on the cake. Really."

Her mother hummed in that way that all mothers did that let you know they were listening, but that you could never be sure if they agreed with you or not. Kagome watched as she disappeared around the corner and then came back, two big fluffy white towels in her hands. "Has Dr. Himura been giving you a hard time again?" she asked with a smile as she offered them to her daughter.

Kagome pouted; actually, scowled. Her nose wrinkled and her eyes closed with a haughty grunt as she grabbed one and fluffed her hair in such a way that you couldn't see her face. She didn't begrudge her mother as the woman went about drying her person off with the other. "He keeps treating me like a gofer intern," she bit off. "I'd blame it on his age, forgetting that I'm an employee with full time benefits; ya know, as in I deserve a little respect—something more than paper pushing to do.

"But, the jerk-face is barely over forty."

"Ah…" her mother said, almost agreeing as she knelt and dried her daughter's jean-damp legs. "You've told me he's one of those genius types who likes to work alone."

"Thinks he's damned good at everything."

Her mother laughed at that before standing.

"Sorry…" Kagome muttered about the curse, looking to the side. She let the towel hang around her shoulders.

"You're forgiven," she said with a smile. "It's your birthday, after all. But, you only get one," she said holding up a finger, "free pass.

"Now, indulge your mother by allowing her to think you're not old enough to use such language and go upstairs and change. Your grandfather and Souta have been waiting for you so we can eat and enjoy some cake."

Kagome nodded with a soft smile of understanding; her mother… she'd never quite see Kagome as an adult. And yet, she never complained about Kagome being herself; not once. The young woman half wondered where she got all that patience from, all that understanding. Had she ever once worried about Kagome during her week-long jaunts back in time? Probably. There had been this sense of tension released from her mother's shoulders rather subtly once she'd told her she wasn't going back, that the well had been sealed.

"Alright." Feeling a bit less damp, she grabbed her bag from the floor and bounded to the stairs like the young girl she'd never quite grown out of. It took but a few beats of said bounding to take her to her room and in the door.

Normally, she'd drop her bag on her bed; however, the leather was still a bit wet and she didn't want that rubbing off on her clean comforter. Instead, she dropped it next to her desk.

Rich shades of the past assailed her; painting of mountains, the mists, in the old style colored her walls. Reds and blues… tones and hues that reminded her royalty, Inuyasha, and the youkai she'd left behind saturated the room in a sharp contrast to the softer tones.

They'd done a lot of renovating since she'd come home. Grandfather had somehow managed to swindle one of those collectors she always went to visit into sponsoring their shrine simply because of the historical significance it held; because his wife had been rather fond of the romantic tale of the youkai and shrine maiden, and because she didn't want the place to fall into ruin. Kagome had thought it was an exaggeration, but perhaps her home had been a bit like 'ruin' to a woman who had a closet the size of Kaede's hut and then some. More so, she'd felt a little put off by it, but had to remind herself that this place wasn't just her home; it was a holy temple that needed any and all help provided to keep it afloat.

Selfishly, she'd been glad for the extra room to keep her own meager collection of weapons, scrolls, and books. The summer job she worked, the one that went part time during classes, was not enough to give her more than that. Even when she got her doctorate she wasn't entirely sure she'd make all that much. Kagome would have to get used to living off what grants the government would offer her, what people with more money than the Emperors of old would give her in the way of sponsorship.

Such was the life of a scholar.

If nothing else, she supposed she could just teach kendo.

Kagome barked laughter at that as she stripped and redressed into a pair of pajama shorts and tank top. She was still grinning as she ran a comb through her hair and put back her long black locks that never seemed to obey her command to _not_ become something reminiscent of a frazzled fan.

She'd straighten it… but, really, she'd look more like Inuyasha's lover than ever before. The last thing she would need would be the shrine maiden outfit. Another laugh at that.

Without much else to do Kagome left her room and jumped down the stairs like a rambunctious teenager. She softened her landing with another abuse of power, knowing her mother would hear her otherwise. No need for a lecture; she'd already spent her free pass for the day.

"I'm here!" she announced with a bright grin as she entered the dining room just off to the kitchen.

"Finally," Souta muttered. "I'm starving already."

"Hush," her mother told him as Kagome took a seat next to the little imp. "Your sister works very hard to help us out. And that requires her to stay late. The very least we can do on her birthday is wait to have dinner as a family.

"Between all your work and studies I see my children so little." Her voice was wistful in the manipulating way mothers all knew how to do so very well to gain pity from their offspring. She even gave a little sniff.

When had her mother become such an odd creature, Kagome wondered. Or maybe she'd always been that way and Kagome never noticed because she'd been so young, so wrapped up with her journey to the past. Or maybe the two of them, Souta and she, had driven her to this as they had both grown.

"_Moooom_," the imp groaned, "It's not like it's _my_ fault." He pouted boyishly, brown knit as he placed his cheek in his palm. Shaggy short strands fell into his eyes. "Can we please eat now?"

"Yes! Or no presents!" Kagome's grandfather decided to pipe in at that moment with a crazy grin. "And I worked diligently for yours, granddaughter!"

Kagome smiled with some strain as she turned to look at him where he sat at the other head of the table opposite of her mother. _Hope it's not another mummified cat this time_, she thought to herself. That was all she needed; another weird artifact to pawn off on one of her professors who were nuts about Egyptology. It wasn't like Kagome didn't like old things; but for some reason her grandfather always got her artifacts he would have liked as a gift. Why didn't he just buy her a bow; archery was something he encouraged. And, really, she'd been eyeing that European bow on the net from the time of the Black Prince. It was—.

"Oh meat!" Souta shouted as they passed dishes around and got right to dinner.

Kagome laughed softly and got right to it as her family chatted on about their lives and so forth. Then came cake, the top of it lit up with number twenty-one. She gave an effulgent grin, closed her eyes, and whispered a silent wish about certain hanyou and youkai she wanted to see again. With a whisper, a blow, they were out and everyone was clapping. Soon enough, presents were shoved into her hands, one from each of them.

"Oh... mama…" Kagome whispered, breathed, as she pulled the wrapping paper back and lifted the lid on the box, revealing a rather impressive blade sheathed in a white scabbard that looked almost like pearl.

"Take it out," her mother told her softly.

Without looking at the woman who birthed her, Kagome did as she bade and stood. She pulled the weapon from its sheath, suddenly struck by the engravings wrought into it, the old kanji.

"I was told it said—."

"Amenonuhoko.." Kagome whispered next in awe. The very weapon that was dipped into the water to churn up the brine by Izanagi and Izanami to create the islands of Japan; the very weapon that had been a spear in folklore before it was reforged into what she—quite possibly—held in her hands. Shockingly, she watched as it rippled with rainbow-like colors when she twisted it in the lighting. But, this couldn't be…

… It was just a story, after all.

Though, so were youkai.

"Is it…"

"Real?" her mother asked. "Quite."

Kagome's gaze shot to hers, trapping her mother's brown gaze with her own blue one as she sat back down with a drop. "How could you have afforded this—."

"It was given to me by the very kind Kimi-san," she told her. "She wanted to make sure you had a proper birthday present and implored that I should give it to you. She told me under no uncertain terms that it belonged with the shrine."

Kagome was awestruck. People did not just give up centuries old swords that were supposedly the very weapons of creation. They didn't. Certainly not to her. Not just because they were married to a man they insisted pay to help rebuild her family's shrine because they were fond of an old romantic legend that had been real life for Kagome.

"She said a miko should have it."

Kagome grunted at that as she put it back in its sheath with a soft snap. "I'm not exactly a miko…" Though, she knew that was a lie, in part. Kagome rarely had time to use her powers; these days it was more of a distraction for childish antics she'd never grown out of. Like bounding up the stairs and skipping five or more at a time when no one was watching. She wasn't a traditionalist at all. But then, it's not like she could fight youkai anymore; which, was a shame. Her time in feudal Japan hadn't been spent mastering her powers very well; she would have done much better getting the shards now than she had before. But, that was all hindsight. She wouldn't be where she was at with them now had she not gone back.

"I'm sure Kimi-san wouldn't mind arguing otherwise if you decide to visit her," her mother offered.

"Enough chit chat! My gift next!" Souta shouted as he shoved a box in her hands.

"So loud," Kagome sing-songed, teasing him as she ripped at the paper and moved to open it. Within it, she discovered her brother had bought her something altogether practical and girly—expensive.

"You said you wanted more of that shampoo, but I know how you spend all your money on pointy things."

Kagome laughed. "I love it, thank you." It probably cost him a good chunk of his allowance; nothing special really, but he'd thought of her needs. And that meant enough. Her hair thanked him; she knew.

And then her grandfather was slapping a small bowed box in front of her, nearly knocking down Souta's gift. "You've earned it," the old man told her.

_Cryptic and weird_, Kagome thought ruefully. Probably another bandaged corpse she'd have to pawn off on one of her colleges. With a resigned and repressed sigh Kagome ripped at the paper and opened the box. _Well… not a corpse at least…_

In it lay a very unusual-looking fude brush. Actually, it reminded her the feudal period, but it was too _new_-looking to be that old. Where had the old man gotten it? Some gift shop? Were they selling these now in their own? From the wolfy-looking creature on it she had to assume so. She could just see the inuyoukai of her time fuming over the badly burnt-in image of their demon-form.

"Uh… thank you, Jii-chan," she said, hoping her voice sounded thankful and appraising.

"I was told it's over four hundred years old, girl."

"It doesn't look it…"

"Well it is!"

"Yes, Jii-chan," she said ruefully, not wanting to argue with him on the finer points of dating old things. "Thank you all so much." She grinned at her family. Souta hugged her, her mother placed a kiss on her forehead before ruffling her hair, and her grandfather joined her brother in the same affection on her person.

"Do you guys mind if I go to bed early? I've got a few things to work on."

"Can't you do it tomorrow? It's your day off then." This from Souta.

"I could, yeah, but I'd like to enjoy my free day, ya know?"

He frowned. "Oi, fine. I'll just take over the TV by myself."

"We can fight about it tomorrow," she told him as she gathered her gifts and her mother began to clear the table. "Anyway, help mom."

"Yeah, yeah…"

With a roll of her eyes Kagome escaped to her room. The day had been shitty for sure, but, her family always had a way of making even the worst of them come together that much better.

Now, if only she didn't have to do paperwork well into the one in the morning…

…Idiot boss.

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><p>Kagome gave a grumble as she slapped the file shut on her desk. Her fingers hurt from all the typing and writing she'd done. At this rate she'd have carpel tunnel before she was thirty. Why couldn't her idiot team lead get it through his skull that just because she was a twenty-one year old that she was <em>not<em> an intern. Granted, she had another two years left on her doctorate because she was taking her time after she'd rushed through to secure her AA and bachelors… but, oi! that _man._

At least it was done, she mused as she gazed on at her digital clock just as it shifted the time to one-thirty. All was quiet in the house and she'd held off really looking at her presents until she'd finished, as if she needed some kind of small reward for the hard work she shouldn't be doing.

Her mother's gift had been really unexpected. Kagome still wasn't convinced, honestly, that the blade in the mother-of-pearl encrusted sheathe was the weapon of legend. She was certainly convinced it was a nice sword, one that may have been made ages ago in prompting of the legend. But, no, not the actual blade. She wanted to use Souta's gift tonight; another reward for her hard work. But, first to have a gander that weird gift shop fude her grandfather thought was a real-deal ancient tool.

It was silly, honestly. Her grandfather knew as much about old crap (in general) as she did about old weapons. Why in the seven hells would he think the calligraphy tool was anything but a recently-made item? Probably put together in China along with a thousand or so others…

Maybe he was going more senile that he normally did.

Maybe.

Still, Kagome was drawn to it. She noted this draw became that much stronger as she pulled it out of its box and rolled the wooden part of it between her fingers. One elbow was set on the desk and her cheek pressed into her fist in such a way that smooshed her face. It wasn't stained, she noted as she got a better look at it. The wood was coated in something, but not stained. It was really white too… not a tint of yellow or brown in it. What had they used to make such a thing?

Her eyes narrowed as she noted the violet-red hairline lines in it; they were apart of the wood and didn't look painted at all. She squinted and brought it closer to her face. Well, what kind of wood had purple-red in it? Something exotic probably.

Her fingers twisted it about and fluffed through the brush part of it, noting how soft and firm the hairs were. Wolf? Maybe. They didn't feel like dog. If it were from feudal Japan animal hair would have been used; it didn't feel like cat—.

She stilled.

A ripple of something… waved out. Hadn't it? It was so fast. No, probably her imagination. The need for sleep, or maybe her wish to see her friends who were probably long dead by now was doing it. Yes. That hadn't been youkai power she sensed. Wouldn't be.

Impossible.

Her lips pressed tightly together and her eyes narrowed once more.

She wondered what her grandfather expected her to do with it. She'd earned it? Senile. He was totally senile. Kagome didn't need medication; he did.

Another urge hit her; probably out of boredom. With a notable yawn, the not-miko pulled a slip of paper from one of her stacks and grabbed the tools she'd need. Fairly quickly, black ink was made in the way it once was and she gathered it onto the brush with a few dips and strokes.

"Hopefully Jii-chan didn't expect me not to use it," she said aloud, knowing she'd feel worse about if it were an actual antique. It just didn't feel like one, and hey, why not use her gift? Even if was silly and made her think of the past she couldn't return to. Right?

Right.

Black slid over white as she painted what she thought were words; poor ones at that. She'd never been good at this, not being a true miko at all.

Still, it felt relaxing to watch the ink spread over the paper and—.

It happened again.

_Ba-dump…!_

The fude suddenly jerked out of her hand and glowed, snapping in the air. She stood up in reaction, toppling her chair as she stepped back. Blue eyes widened as the fude moved on its own.

_Crap, is it cursed?!_ she wondered, recalling the mask that had taken over her grandfather years ago.

Kagome ducked as it shot to her and at the same time reached for the sword her mother had gifted her. The katana slid out of its sheathe with a relative ease she was accustomed to.

_Youkai! Youkai!_ Her body screamed, her miko instincts shouted at her. At the same time the pink aura hummed in the weapon in her hand as she took a stance and tossed the scabbard aside towards her bed some ten feet away.

The fude jerked in air, pointing and spinning as if looking for something. It came at her again and Kagome dove out of the way, barely missing her turned over chair as she rolled to stand. But when it came again and she moved to strike, it jerked and slipped beyond her defenses.

_Why me?!_ She screeched in her own head as the fude brushed over skin while she fell on her ass. _What the fuck is it doing?!_

The black ink wove over her arms, her neck, her exposed back, and chest. She felt a blinding power that reminded her of a sealing technique, but it was youkai. It burned heavily; although, it didn't hurt. More confused and now intrigued than she was afraid, Kagome stood up slowly as the brush worked and drew. It wasn't hurting her.

Something pinched her ear and she reached up to the cuff of her right one, feeling something cool and metal. An earring? It dangled and she had the urge to go look in her mirror. But then something else happened.

The fude stopped in front of her and then faded from sight with a flash of white light that blazed in her room. Still grasping the sword, she shielded her eyes with the other hand, only dropping it when the luminosity was gone.

She blinked at the empty room… wondering just what in the hell had happened. That was until she felt with warm crawling on her chest—stomach. Kagome jumped and then lifted her shirt just high enough to look down.

She gasped.

On her skin was a gray-shaded tattoo of a demon dog that looked distinctly like—.

It moved.

"What the fu—." It was all she got out before it jumped off of her body, soared through the air, and then took form in a twisting of limbs and more white light. On the ground a man kneeled—a man who, unless she was fucking crazy (maybe she needed those pills after all), was bare-chested with his long white hair in a pool around him over one shoulder. She couldn't see his eyes as they were downcast with his face. One hand was one his knee, the other in a fist with knuckles flat on the floor. He was broad… very broad and… very… familiar…

His aura was. But, who…

Kagome's eyes widened… no. No way!

Her body screamed that her assessment was right even as she told it that _it_ _was wrong_. It had to be. There was no fucking way that the Lord of the—.

"Mistress," she heard him speak, "my will is your own, your command thine. Tell me of what you desire and it shall be yours if it is within my ability. From this point on I am in your service until death takes you, or, you see fit to claim me as your own."

Kagome felt herself hyperventilating; no… that was just her addled brain telling her she fucking should be. She should!

"…Sesshoumaru?" she whispered in disbelief, too shocked to say anything else.

Yellow cat-like eyes that she hadn't seen in well over six years shot up to hers. And though his face was entirely impassive… there was defiance in that gaze—aggression. They narrowed and his jaw flexed.

"What…" she found herself saying, blurting, as she put her foot in her mouth all of sudden—as she generally did when faced with something altogether insane and… and… "What the fuck is this?!" she blurted next, sword loose in her grip. Really, she didn't know what else to say.

Who in the hell would?

"Miko…" she heard him mutter, focusing on her. His jaw flexed again. "May I stand?"

"Uh… yeah…"

And so he did. And that was about the time Kagome forgot to think because her eyes were full of bare chested youkai; bare chested youkai in very silky white pants that were bound to his waist by that damnably blue and gold sash she'd always seen him in.

_Oh, damn… that's not good for my senses… not at all. Hot chest; nice chest; yesssss very nice._

"You are aroused," she heard him say.

Blue depths jerked up to meet his gaze. She gave herself a pat on the back for not blushing; though, that probably had everything to do with the fact that she was still reeling from a very hot and sexy Sesshoumaru standing her room half naked and calling her mistress.

_Dreaming, right_?"

"Would you like me to attend to that need?"

Wait… what…?

He raised a brow at her; that action lasted a moment before he stepped into her space, the heat of him radiating and warming her as he reached out and brushed hair away from her temple. Those soft digits slid along her scalp with a scrape of his claws, causing her to gasp as the electricity of his touch slid right to her core. She felt his other hand come to her shoulder; that touch was soft too… barely grasping her as his thumb rolled over her bare skin.

"You are aroused," he said again, deep timber of his voice darker and just as penetrating, "it has been some twenty cycles of the planet around the sun since This Sesshoumaru had lain with another.

"Would you allow me to attend that need? My own?"

Kagome, somewhere between the fude coming to life and a blast from the past appearing in her bedroom, had completely lost all ability to think. Really, she had. But, who could blame her?

Mildly, she _tried to think_ of the last time she'd had sex with anyone. There were probably cobwebs in her vagina by now; eck… not a good image. No, no, not at all. Bad, Kagome. Baaaaaad.

"Really... confused…" she managed somehow, not entirely sure she wanted to break the spell. "You… uh… is this _real_?" she asked stupidly. Somehow the idea of Sesshoumaru—arrogant, asshole, trying-to-kill-Kagome, stick-up-his-ass Sesshoumaru—asking to sleep with her just felt too bizarre to be anything but a dream.

_So don't wanna wake up; yup, not ashamed of that thought. Nupe._

"I am pain," he told her simply, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Twenty cycles have—."

"I got that the first time," she said, finding her brain was coming back to her even as he skimmed his lips over her cheek, hovering dangerously close to her own as if he just needed her to say yes. He'd tilted her head to do that and she really couldn't find a good reason to pull away. "I just—information," she said next. "How did this…" Oh man… hot breath… lips close. _Very_ close.

"You want to know why I am here?" he murmured, eyes half shut as they focused on her mouth. His other hand still caressed her arm, sliding up and down in a way that created a gentle hum along her skin.

"Y-yeah…" she said brokenly. "Can uh…" Vaguely, she recalled that speech he'd given her about being hers or something. Oh, that didn't help at all… but, did that mean she could tell him to stop? Fuck, did she want to?

"Are you commanding me to tell you?"

"Maybe?" she said as his lips brushed hers and sent another surge of want to her groin.

"I am your servant," he said in that way that told her there would be no other explanation.

"Sure… got that…" Blink. "_How_?"

He sighed in a way that most people did when they wanted something but could not have it; then, he closed his eyes.

Kagome found herself wrapped in his embrace, his hands moving to caress her everywhere while his face slid into the crook of her neck: her back, her bottom, her thighs, her sides, her shoulders, the base of her skull—like he couldn't get enough of touching her... So… _weird_…

That hot mouth opened along her throat; fangs grazed. On instinct, she grabbed onto his shoulders, sword hitting the floor, just as his tongue licked a path of molten heat that made her gasp.

"Tell me how—_shit_," she cursed as he bit gently.

_Has to be a dream. I've been working too hard. Must have fallen asleep at my desk. Man, all that ink is gonna look real great in the morning on my face. Did I start drawing in the dream? Crap, I hope I finished my paperwork…_

Something akin to a rumble of a growl ran against her neck, her ear, as his nose brushed along her skin and into her hair. He inhaled, smelling her. Somehow, a youkai smelling her didn't seem quite so creepy. It should have been; it wasn't.

"My mother bid me to mate, to learn humility. I refused, and thus was cast into a curse of her making—binding me to the fude brush. For some four hundred years I have been in the service of others.

"You used the brush, therefore you are my mistress.

"Now," he went on, voice just a deep as ever, "will you allow me to attend your need?

"My own?" he punctuated.

"Gotta be a dream…" she said out loud as he took the lobe of her ear into his mouth and sucked, soothing it with his tongue. "Gotta… be…" She had to rationalize it that way. It was. Had to be. Maybe this was what her birthday wish had conjured for her. Surely. Yeah, that made it alright.

She was a sleeping and in the morning she'd have one fabulous memory to hold onto when the real world came back and she went back to work the day after tomorrow; something to help her daydream while her boss gave her hell. Maybe she'd get lucky and dream about a Sesshoumaru love-slave again later.

Yes, a dream.

"Mistress?" he whispered softly, voice full of pained want.

"Yes—uh—attending. I'll take it. Super-sized with a side of all of it."

If he'd been confused by her babble she didn't know. Because in the next moment his lips captured hers in all of the aggressive desire that had been swimming in his eyes when he'd first looked at her. He poured it into her as he lifted her. Kagome found her arms winding around his neck, her legs about his hips. She felt nails—claws—biting into her back and butt as he pressed her as close to him as he could get her.

His mouth ravaged hers, tongue sliding against her own in some battle as she twined her fingers into his hair and held on. _So soft_. In the next moment she was on her bed, her shirt was coming off—her pants. The speed of it all would have had her nervous normally. But, hey—dream! She moved to reach for him, kissing him once more and enjoying the way he hummed in pleasure while he took off his shoes, his pants.

And then he was pressing against her again, this time with skin on skin. She could feel that hard part of him bumping against her thigh as they both shifted further up on the mattress. His mouth never quite left hers while he crawled after her; not until she settled and it moved capture of nipple. She cried out at that, arching as her legs spread. That sound only became louder as he slid two fingers into her. At first, she jerked away, worried about claws.

_It's a dream, no need to worry about flayed girly parts._

Nothing cut into her; there was nothing but the pleasure he writ into her skin, within her, and on the sensitive nub between her folds. Her hands found purchase on his shoulders even as he went lower, as his mouth went to that place and lapped. Her body twisted and flexed; she gasped as he rolled his tongue into a motion that had her nails clawing into him.

It all felt so good; so damned good.

_I _am_ dreaming, right...?_

She careened into her orgasm with what seemed so little effort on his part, telling her that this indeed had to be a dream. No man ever set her blood on fire so much. Nothing ever seemed this… this surreal, this intangible and tangible at once.

In one smooth motion that felt too hazy to be real, he was within her fully. His mouth was on hers, her throat, her ear; she could feel him nipping and biting as if he wanted to pierce skin. And really, she wanted him to. Kami, how she wanted him to.

"Let me…" he seemed to beg; which, was silly. Sesshoumaru did _not_ beg. Well, apparently dream-Sesshoumaru did. No complaints. Nupe.

"Please," she found herself saying. "I want… Ah!" And then he did. Her dream youkai-lover bit down and drew from her. Her nails cut down his back until they halted on his ass; it was there she dug in as she thrust back with his own motions.

Sweat-slicked and falling into oblivion, Kagome came for the second time as the dream-youkai begged her to find climax with him, as he came with her.

Some presents, she mused in the folds of her dream—wondering why she'd fall asleep in a dream with a dream-youkai tenderly covering them both in her blankets and sheets before he pulled her back to his front—really were better than others.

_Jii-chan_… _your gift… really was the best._

* * *

><p><strong>AN :: <strong>So, a few years ago I wrote this really _awful_ KagInu fic. I never finished it. Since then, it's been deleted and replaced with equally awful Naruto fics I wrote years ago. At any rate, I blame all of this on my friend Kimmi. She got me reading that deviantart comic Raindrops; then, I decided it'd be a great idea to go and read some SesKag fics since I'd sucked the well dry on Naruto and Buffy fanfiction for my favorite pairings.

I promised myself I'd quit writing fanfics. Apparently I fail at that.

So, here you go. Hope you enjoyed it—my fail at quitting.

Be warned though, I may not update as often as you'd like me to as my original fiction is more of my focus.

Damn you, Kimmi.

—**Blade **


	2. Chapter Two

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.

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The Taming of the Stubborn Inuyoukai

* * *

><p><em>It's been one week since you looked at me<em>

_Threw your arms in the air_

_and said "You're crazy"_

_Five days since you tackled me_

_I've still got the rug burns on both my knees_

_It's been three days since the afternoon_

_You realized it's not my fault_

_not a moment too soon_

_Yesterday you'd forgiven me_

_And now I sit back and wait til you say you're sorry._

—_One Week - Barenaked Ladies_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>| Doggy in The Window

Kagome couldn't recall the last time she felt so sated, so rested, so warm in her queen-sized bed. Even her sheets felt good; they were somehow plusher, fuller, more swathing than they had ever been before. She felt like she was wrapped in a cloud. Truly, she was thankful today was her day off: it meant she could sleep in. Though, part of her did wonder why her alarm hadn't screamed to wake her up. She didn't remember turning that function off before she fell asleep.

Had her mother come and put her to bed? Perhaps Souta…

She could have sworn she'd fallen asleep at her desk.

Either way, she was thankful not to have a crick in her neck. A contented smile tugged at her mouth as she shifted and gave a murr sound, moving further into the furnace of heat behind her. In response, said furnace of heat growled lowly in what reminded her of a cat purring; it then pulled her closer. A warm breath rolled over neck with the previous sound and for a long moment Kagome let an array of emotions drag on—happiness, contentment, and wholeness.

She'd had such a good dream last night…

Such… a good… Her eyes flashed open.

Several things happened at once:

First, Kagome realized that she was no longer dreaming, and therefore she shouldn't be feeling anyone purring or growling behind her.

Secondly, the pinch she gave herself did nothing to remove the notion that she was, in fact, coiled in a very male embrace—a very male youkai embrace.

Thirdly, she screamed and plastered herself against a wall that wasn't there—in the process falling in a tumble of sheets to the floor with a thump.

She didn't have the fortitude to give a crap about her smarting rear on the rug covered hardwood. No, not at all; not when her focus, her gaze, was entirely on the man sitting up and rubbing his eyes. She watched as he watched her, face impassive aside from the raised ivory brow. The sheet slid from his upper body as casually as a sheet could. And once more, she was gifted with the sight of his very bare and hairless chest.

"You are very loud," he intoned.

And just like that, Kagome knew this wasn't a dream. _Last night_ had not been a dream. It hit her like a tidal wave of ice cold water. She felt like her brother had snuck up behind her and dumped a bucket of it on her. She could almost—almost—hear him cackling like the imp he was. But that sound in her mind faded away and she was still left sitting there sprawled out on the floor staring up and The Lord of The Western Lands, The Killing Perfection, Inuyasha's half brother…

…Sesshoumaru.

She'd had sex with Sesshoumaru.

Amazingly great sex.

With Sesshoumaru.

And she was naked.

"Oh crap," she blurted.

He said nothing.

"I wasn't dreaming," she said next. "I thought it was a dream."

He snorted, eyes shutting as he bent one knee under the bedding and placed his elbow on his thigh; his hand moved to rest on his cheek. This series of actions made his bangs jostle and brush his temple just so, made the blue-jeweled earring hanging from the cuff of his ear chime because of the bell attached to it.

"What?" she said, slightly put off by his silent indifference.

Sesshoumaru then opened his eyes and looked at her. He opened his mouth to say something and then shut it—silent.

Blue eyes narrowed. "You want to say something."

"I do," he admitted.

"Then just say it."

And so he did. "You spent almost an entire year of your life in the feudal era fighting youkai, magic, and things this realm would perceive to be entirely impossible; things you would have likely perceived to be impossible before falling through the well. And yet, you convinced yourself that my appearance, my person attending to our mutual needs, was somehow a dream?" He was frowning just so then and Kagome got the distinct impression he was… upset.

"Hey!" she snapped, standing and all at once realizing he was insulting her in that purely super-fancy way that nobility did; jerk! Her hands went to her hips as she glowered down at him. "I was tired, alright?! It's been a long week and I didn't exactly expect a blast from the past to pop out of a fude brush and _attend our mutual needs_!

"It was a…" she reached for a word, the right word, "a coping mechanism!"

He said nothing.

Kagome huffed and jerked her clothes back on that were on the floor, not liking how bare she was in front of him just then.

He still said nothing.

"Are you just gonna sit there and not say anything?"

"Would you like me to?"

"It's better than that arrogant all-knowing silence!"

"Yes, mistress," he murmured, eyes closing once more as if he were trying to shut her out—her anger. "What would you like me to say?"

Kagome was at a loss for words—entirely. What the hell was going on here? One moment he had this look in his eye like he was the arrogant asshole she once knew, and in the next his whole body took on this… heaving drop of submission.

To her.

But… Sesshoumaru didn't submit to anyone…

She was reminded of all those times he and Inuyasha had fought, all the things he'd said and hadn't said. She was reminded of how he would walk away, not viewing more than half of what he came across to be worth his time. Sesshoumaru, the man who more than likely imagined the world revolved around him…

…what in the hell had happened to him?

Kagome sunk down on the mattress next to him softly and stared at his features, shut down at they were. Her heart dropped. Everything about this seemed so wrong; it was so completely wrong.

This was not the man she knew, not totally.

She went back to what he'd said last night, trying to think beyond all of it what he'd said about his mother and a curse. Yes, he had. Something about mother binding him to the fude brush, right?

She had to know, had to figure this out before someone came knocking on her door to find a fully grown and naked inuyoukai in her bed.

"What did your mother do to you…?" she whispered. "Why did she do this?"

Amber hues opened languidly and met hers.

"Please tell me. The whole story. Everything after I left," she implored him, thinking that she needed to actually tell him that in order to get him to do it. But, then something about that felt wrong. "But… ah… you can leave what you want out. You know… things you want to keep to yourself."

He nodded and she got the distinct feeling a bit of tension had left his shoulders. "Five years passed on after your departure and my mother and I asked Inuyasha and his miko mate to take their place in the Western Lands. Much deliberation went on between my mother and I, and, in the end we decided it would do well to strengthen our holdings to have them join the pack."

"I didn't think you were fond of humans…"

"Time eases all wounds," he replied vaguely. There was a pause before he went on, as if he recalled some memory she couldn't see. "Forty-five years went on after that. Inuyasha and Kikyo worked towards a union of peace between the larger youkai nations and the human feudal lords. I assisted them where I could and our strength became that much stronger.

"My mother, in the midst of all this, pressured me to mate and provide offspring—heirs. I could not because the political upheaval was too much for Inuyasha; his mate did not completely understand the delicate manner in which one must negotiate with youkai—Inuyasha knew even less about such matters."

Kagome smiled. "I can't imagine Inuyasha negotiating with anyone, not unless you count pissing them off as successfully negotiating."

"Indeed," he replied.

_Be nice if he smiled_, she thought. _I made a funny. Laughing should happen._

"I also desired that Rin marry or mate before I took on one of my own. I did not want to disrupt her life with another woman, a woman who might not take kindly to a human girl for an adoptive daughter."

"But, she was married by then?"

He nodded. "She was. And in turn my mother pressured me further for another fifty years."

"So… why didn't you...?"

"I did not want to," he said simply, still looking at her. That amber gaze didn't waver once. "She grew impatient and frustrated. It is customary for the oldest son in my line to mate before he takes the throne; her ire was understandable even if I found it tedious."

Kagome laughed, but stopped and slapped a hand over her mouth when he raised a brow at her. "Sorry… sorry... Go on."

"She caught me off guard one evening, procured some of my demon hair, and cursed me into the fude brush she had fashioned with youkai magic. Her wish was that I would grow weary of my service to others, bending to their every want and need. In turn, she imagined I would learn humility and settle on a bond mate."

"…and it's been this way for over four hundred years?"

"It has."

Kagome blinked stupidly. "Can I ask a few more questions?"

"I am incapable of refusing you, mistress."

This whole mistress thing was going to grate on her nerves, but she'd deal with that later. "Alright… well… so, you're tied to me or something?"

"I am bound to you, yes."

"What does that mean? Like, what happened last night? You said something about twenty cycles—years. And then there's the tattoo and this earring." As she said the last part she reached up and touched the dangling thing on her right ear cuff that she had yet to look at in a mirror. "I hate to ask this," she went on with a slight warming of her cheeks. "But… ah…

"…are you supposed to be some kind of sex slave? Is that why…" Oh, man, even asking felt so wrong. So damned wrong. Sex slave and Sesshoumaru didn't not go in the same sentence together.

Sesshoumaru just stared at her as she asked her question, ever patient. Still, she could see something in that gaze—something weary and aggressive. It was as though he'd given up, some part of him had. And yet, some part of him had not.

When he spoke his voice was just the same as before: cultured, inflection present on certain consonants, and lacking a softness or hardness. "When you used the fude brush it drew my demon form onto your body and pierced your ear with the earring; the latter acts as a collar, the former as a means for me to be with you at all times for protection and convenience."

"Oh," she said if she understood. _A collar?_

"Being bound to you simply means that I am in your service—my duty is to see to your every need and desire. Whatever it is you order of me I am to do to the best of my ability."

"…What… what happens if you don't?"

"Then you may punish me as you see fit."

Kagome's jaw dropped. "P-punish..?"

He nodded once. "There are several effective ways to punish me," he told her as if he were talking about the weather or teaching a class. "The first would be to keep me from your person for an extended period of time and at a distance farther than five feet. The further the distance and the more time passes the more I am pained.

"The second is to press your emotions through the bond tenfold. In doing so I feel what you feel, what you want me to feel, and, am pained as a result.

"The third and final way to punish This Sesshoumaru is to physically do harm by means of beating, whipping, or—."

"Whipping?" she blurted, eyes wide. Her chest suddenly hurt, her throat caught with some upheaval of emotion and disbelief. "People… people…" she whispered, "people _beat you_?

"They… _whipped you_?"

"They did."

Kagome just stared at him, still at a loss. She just couldn't imagine anyone beating Sesshoumaru. It wasn't possible. She tried to. She tried to see his bent body clinging to the ground as someone slashed his back with a cat of nine tails. Somehow, she couldn't get the blood out of her mind.

"Kami," she whispered. "Why in the hell would someone do that to you?" she snapped, suddenly upset that anyone would beat another person. It didn't matter if it was Sesshoumaru or not.

"Merely because they wanted to, mistress."

The knowledge hurt worse; hearing him say it with the title he appeared forced into saying made it _much worse_.

Kagome was suddenly wrapped with the want to hold him, to clutch him. And she did, because, god damnit, that was you fucking did when someone told you people beat them just because they felt like it.

She felt his arms wrap around her in turn, his chin on her head. He let out a slow exhale, as if to release something from within himself.

"Do you have need of me again?" he asked her softly, that tint in his voice allowing her to know exactly what he meant.

"Need?" she whispered.

"Your needs," he clarified. "You are embracing me. It is This Sesshoumaru's assumption that you want to copulate once more."

She jerked back and placed her hands on his shoulders. Sapphire orbs stared up into his. "I'm comforting you," she told him.

"Ah…" he replied as if almost alien to the idea.

And she didn't even want to begin to try and understand what that implied, what it meant for him to feel wholly separated from the idea of comfort. Hadn't Rin comforted him? Surely she had. She couldn't quite see the demon lord being comforted by friends, perhaps even his mother, but somehow she couldn't believe Rin had never done it. The child had always been a ball of delight and love.

Or… maybe… it had been that long? Four hundred years was a long time, after all. Had all of his masters been selfish, cruel, and demanding?

"You said there was a way to break the curse, right?"

"There is only one way."

"Mating, right?"

"Correct."

Kagome frowned as her thumbs idly rubbed into his skin. It occurred to her that he hadn't answered all of her questions before, but she'd bug him about the others later. It's not like he was going anywhere, and, it had been her fault by interjecting.

"So, we'll just find you a mate, right? Shouldn't be too hard."

"That is not possible."

"What? Then how do we break the curse?" Her brow knit as she stared up at him still.

He blinked down at her slowly; the action gave her the impression that he thought her addled, as if he didn't need to tell her, or, had already.

He probably had.

"If you do not make me yours then the curse will remain. When you pass on I will be in service to someone else eventually; in turn, it will be up to them to—."

"Are you telling me that we, as in your and me," she said as she pointed at him and then herself, "_we_ have to mate to break the curse?"

"You will have to allow me to, yes."

The only thought Kagome had at the moment was: Twenty-one really is too young to get married and have kids.

Wait, pups. _They are called pups, right?_

And then her eyes widened and her body stiffened.

Sesshoumaru raised his brow again.

"Crap, I didn't use protection."

* * *

><p>Four hundred years… had it been that long? Sesshoumaru mused this while the human female, the miko who stiffened in his embrace, cursed herself. She appeared worried that she'd forgotten to use a condom before their coupling. He could feel that fear, that worry, as it emanated off of her and into him through the connection. His grip was loose on her body, but he pulled her closer and fed soothing emotions into her.<p>

"Prevention of pregnancy will not be necessary," he told her as he rubbed circles in the base of her spine with his thumbs, lifting her tank top just so.

She was pushing back again and looking at him with a knit brow, her small fists pressing just between the space of his collarbone and upper chest. "…What are you doing to me?"

"Would you like me to stop, mistress?" He pushed more of that soothing emotion into her, just to see what she'd do.

He wasn't sure if he could count himself lucky in being bound to Kagome, his half brother's former—brief—love interest. It had been twenty cycles since he'd last been free from his prison, his slumber. The quiet had gone on endlessly while half of his mind felt, saw, heard, and smelled where the fude brush he'd been trapped into went.

His life felt wasted… caught in the wants of others.

Those who needed his power, those who wanted his body, those who desired his protection, and those who used him no better than he'd once used an object he'd grown tired of. He'd grown used to being an object, a tool for others. It was easier to be blank, void, empty; easier than letting his aggression become visible to whomever possessed him. It was better to give them what they wanted and hide away his own wants—desires. Sometimes, however, favor shined on him as it had last night. Twenty years of not being in heat had hit him heavily once she'd released him; anyone could have released him from the fude brush and he likely would have pressed for that desire… or at the very least permission to give himself relief.

But, part of him was glad it was the miko from the future… now the present.

How he loathed his mother for doing this to him.

The first fifty years he'd fought against his bindings, lashed out at his masters, and cursed them openly even while they beat him into submission. The whole time he calmly told himself that she would regret what she'd done, that she would come for him. The Western Lord refused to be the first to bend; he wouldn't give into what she wanted. His mother might be a mischievous and wanton creature, but, she loved him. Her pride was not so great that she would leave him to suffer.

And yet, she had.

Time waned on him, people did. Eventually, he just gave up trying to fight her wishes. For a good hundred years after that he longed for someone to accept what he had not wanted to. He longed to go back to that time and tell his mother yes, that he would gladly mate with whomever she decided on. Any woman would do—any. Any woman was better than this agony of giving to others with no end in sight, of trying to fight the natural urge to bend and soothe his masters.

How he'd hated it.

Hated her. He did.

And yet, no one had given him that which he desired—freedom at the joining of another. Once his masters knew what he was they dared not risk releasing him, fearing retribution in the power they contained and controlled if it were let lose.

He briefly recalled begging a woman at one point, beyond reason or sense.

And then came the acceptance—the void. The knowing that this was his life and nothing more could be done about it. He would never be released, never die, and it would go on and on… never-ending.

How had Inuyasha reacted? Had he cared at all what his mother had done, his now adoptive mother had done? Or, had he held fast to all Sesshoumaru had done to him in the past and thanked the gods he was gone? After all, without the elder son of their father in the way the hanyou was free to take over as Western Lord.

He didn't care anymore.

"I'm not sure… but, what are you doing? And what do you mean, it's not necessary?"

Her reply pulled him from his own thoughts; he'd grown accustomed to that—thinking in his own head. It was easier than voicing any of it and angering his master. Still, he replied to her as he knew he had to, "I am attempting to soothe your worry through our connection."

"It goes both ways?"

"Unless you block me out, yes."

"Oh."

"As for the other," he further explained, "my mother was attentive enough to ensure my progeny were not roaming all over the world and through time while I am bound to others.

"I am incapable of impregnating you as I am currently."

Kagome felt relieved at that admission. She wasn't ready to have kids yet, never mind how her mother might freak out. Though, her mother took everything in stride; it was hard to imagine her freaking out about anything. "This is a lot to take in," she admitted as it all sunk in.

She was in possession, literal possession, of a youkai lord. He would do anything she told him—asked. Daunting, that's what it was. She didn't want to be in possession of him; and yet, she had to admit it was nice to see a well-known face from her time before.

This whole mating thing… she'd have to think about it later. Not now; later. Maybe after some coffee.

He didn't reply to her statement; so, she pulled away from his embrace gently. She needed to create a little space between them. Feeing him both physically and mentally was really messing with her head and making her want to repeat last night.

"I ah… sorry… could you maybe stop the whole soothing thing?" she asked him as she sat across from him on the bed, folding her legs into one another in a crossed-position.

"You could block me," he told her, "But yes, I will."

And just like that, the soothing was gone. Kagome let out a breath. "Thank you."

"You are welcome."

"Ok, so let me see if I have this right…" she began, "Your mother wanted you to mate; you refused. She got tired of waiting around and bound you to the fude brush. Since then you've been forced to do what your masters wanted you to do. Four hundred years have gone on since then." She pondered more, chewing her bottom lip while looking to the side. Her brow furrowed. "We're connected, but I can block you if I want. Can you block me?"

"No."

_That's not really fair_. She sighed and rubbed her temples. "Ok, so, the earrings are collars."

"Only mind is. Yours is what you might call a tether—a leash."

She nodded, thankful he was being forthcoming even if she hated each bit of information more than the last. "And you become this tattoo on my body so you can go everywhere with me."

"Yes."

"And I also get this feeling that you have to make me feel better, or try… right?" It certainly explained why he was so busy trying to touch her so much, why he'd tried to ease her worry even if he wasn't accustomed to being comforted himself.

"I am bound by the curse to ease my master's ache, pain, or any other number of unwanted emotions."

"Your mother is really fucked up, I gotta say that." Kagome frowned at him. He was so blank. Maybe a topic change would be better before she dealt with any of this further. She'd have to let her family know he was here; there was no way she could hide a fully mature youkai in her room and on her body. "You don't know what happened to others after you were cursed, do you?"

"I do not," he admitted, "However, I know they remain in Japan. Each summoning has been in this country; each time I have felt them."

She blinked. "You… felt them?"

"They spend much of their time concealing their auras… though, sometimes I can sense them."

"That would explain why I haven't…" Kagome sighed out. "Sometimes I sense a youkai or two, but it never ends up being them once I trace it. I've been tempted to ask the youkai I locate if they know anything… but, I'm not sure how receptive to a miko they might be."

"I would not know," he told her. "Negotiations with the feudal lords were all but handled when I fell prey to my mother. It is entirely possibly they would not react badly if you were to ask after my family."

Kagome grunted and half bounced in her seat on the bed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, we're going to have to find them now. You can't stay this way and I bet Inuyasha wasn't happy about what your mom did."

He blinked at her.

"We're gonna find them and convince your dear old mama to break this stupid curse."

Something he had not felt in a long time burned within him and Sesshoumaru frowned. His brow furrowed while he tried to figure out just what it was.

"Hope," she told him, as if she'd read his mind. Though, she sounded just as surprised as he did. "I felt that."

"Kagome!"

Bright blue eyes widened as she the door to her room flew open, they jerked in that direction. "S-Souta," she got out as he tumbled into her room, ran towards her bed, and then stopped short. She knew he'd been rather intent on flouncing onto her to wake her up. But, obviously, the sight of her sitting there with a man stopped him short.

Brown eyes bugged out of his head and his jaw dropped. "Uh…"

"It's not what it looks like," she told him, trying to regain her composure. Actually, it was, but he didn't need to know that.

"Holy shit, you've got a dude in your room," he stated, staring at Sesshoumaru. "I don't even know how mom would react to this…"

Kagome sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Probably not badly." She hoped.

"Wait, you look like Inuyasha…" Souta said next.

To this, the inuyoukai said nothing.

"That's because he's a youkai," Kagome told him as she stood. "Can you make yourself useful and go get those clothes you got for Christmas last year that are too big? The ones in the spare room closet?"

"He doesn't have clothes?" he asked in disbelief, jaw dropping.

Kagome growled at where his mind was going to—right to the gutter. "Not modern ones! I'll explain later, imp. Just… go get them, alright?"

Souta rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. I'm taking the TV today though."

Kagome didn't argue; she had bigger problems than worrying about fighting over TV time with her brother. Like asking her dear old grandfather just where in the hell he'd gotten that fude brush from.

"Your brother?" she heard Sesshoumaru ask.

She jerked her gaze to his, pulled from her thoughts. "Yeah... he's a pain in the ass these days.

"Not unlike your own brother." She waited for some kind of reaction, but, none came. Nothing. Finally, she frowned and her arms dropped from where they'd been crossed over her chest to her sides. "You know, you used to be pretty stoic before, but this is bordering on obsession."

"Do you want me to show emotion, mistress?"

"Ok, that… that has to stop…" she said softly, pained. "I'm just… not used to you this way. It's…

"You _don't_ have to call me that if you don't want to, alright? Kagome is fine. I'll even settle for miko at this point." She rubbed her shoulder and sighed. "You really don't have to worry about me being a jerk to you, ok? I'm not gonna beat your or anything. Really, I'd just be happier if you were you… or as you as you can be after four hundred years of dealing with dick faces who want to use you."

All at once Kagome was struck by the way his eyes went from a void… to soft. Really soft. There was tenderness there… not aloofness. Feeling. Really feeling. Relief. That's what she felt through the connection. A sense of relief… and then fear. Just like that it was gone though.

"You want me to be… myself?" he asked, tone barely curious. He wasn't entirely sure if he knew how to be anymore. No, he knew… he just... Instinct dictated he take the less weathered path, the one that didn't cause him anymore suffocating pain than he would be forced to endure.

"Well, whatever you're comfortable with," she said next. "I'm gonna have to get used to the fact that you'll literally do what I say… I wonder if there's a way around that…" She frowned, thinking as she tapped her chin. "How about this? Unless I call you daiyoukai, it's not a command. Ok? You won't have to do what I say.

"I don't think I'll need to unless, you know, you decide to go on some insane spree of destruction across Edo." She chuckled lightly. "So, just to make sure: you are not required to do as I say unless I refer to you as daiyoukai in the same sentence as the command."

"…Very well."

Kagome sighed. The softness was gone, but at least the fear was too. What had that been about? The very idea of Sesshoumaru being afraid of anything was frightening in and of itself.

"Here's the damn clothes." Souta told her as he dropped the box on the floor in front of her. "Mom's making breakfast and she wants to know if you're gonna be eating or sleeping in. I told her I hadn't checked on you yet, but I would."

He'd bought her some time then. Not that she needed it. "Alright, thanks. Is Jii-chan up too?"

Souta snorted as he made way to the door. "Since when isn't that geezer up at the crack of dawn? Yeah, he sipping on his tea and going on about new ways to get people to the shrine. Something about a festival."

That actually sounded like fun… Kagome shook her head. "Thanks," she told her brother and shut the door behind him. Without looking at the youkai Kagome went right for the box and began opening it and pulling out clothes. "These don't fit Souta yet, but they should fit you as your bigger than he is. I'm happy I didn't have to dig my dad's old clothes out until I can get you something else. Those are really old and out of style." She pulled up on a soft blue shirt with long gray sleeves. The front of it was emblazoned with some artsy skull stuff that was really popular now. "I hope you don't mind wearing jeans; Souta doesn't do slacks unless mom forces him to wear them." She pulled out a pair of those too and then looked at him.

"Do you want to pick them out, Sesshoumaru?"

He stared at her for what seemed like a long time, thinking. His last mistress had liked to dress him as she would a doll; it had been some time since he'd been asked to choose clothes for himself.

"Sesshoumaru?"

"Bring the box here, please," he told her, feeling even that request left an odd weight on his tongue.

Still, Kagome smiled and slid the box across the floor. She watched as he slipped off the bed to sit down on the floor before it. The young woman averted her eyes until she was sure the brown container at least covered the parts of him he obviously felt no shame in showing.

Really… it's not that she hadn't seen a naked man before. But, it had been a while since her last boyfriend; being comfortable with a person in the nude took time. Also, she wasn't entirely sure if he felt ok with her ogling him, or, if that was just the curse making him more appealing to her senses—forcing him to be that way.

"The one you were holding and the jeans will do well enough," he told her without real inflection. "Are there shoes?"

"Oh, I hadn't thought about that…" she trailed off, thinking. "Do you know your size? Maybe Souta has a pair that'll fit."

"Eleven," he told her.

"Yeah, he does. I'll get them before we go anywhere." Kagome stood up and dusted nonexistent dirt off her bum. "Well, go ahead and get dressed. Then we'll go eat and face the firing squad.

"Souta's liable to find it entirely entertaining."

_At least someone would_.

* * *

><p><strong>AN ::<strong> You lucky folks got a second chapter. Go figure? Don't expect another for at least a month; my Spuffy fics needs a new chapter –grunts-.

—**Blade **


	3. Chapter Three

.

.

.

.

The Taming of the Stubborn Inuyoukai

* * *

><p><em>It's been one week since you looked at me<em>

_Threw your arms in the air_

_and said "You're crazy"_

_Five days since you tackled me_

_I've still got the rug burns on both my knees_

_It's been three days since the afternoon_

_You realized it's not my fault_

_not a moment too soon_

_Yesterday you'd forgiven me_

_And now I sit back and wait til you say you're sorry._

—_One Week - Barenaked Ladies_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>| Tempestuous Inuyoukai!

It wasn't the first time he'd worn jeans, but it had been a while. The shirt itself was very comfortable, and, judging by the way the miko was staring at him appraisingly he looked adequate.

"I should have asked if you needed a shower first," he heard her say.

"It can wait."

She nodded as she slipped on her robe over her clothes. The house was cold this morning, indicating that fall was fast approaching. Her mother didn't like to turn the heat on until it was really needed; neither did her grandfather. It didn't bother her, honestly. The temp inside had to be about sixty and that was just fine by her.

She gave a sigh as they made their way out into the hall and towards the stairs. She let her aura reach out and sense where her family was; dining room and kitchen—good. Behind her she felt as Sesshoumaru stiffened and stopped; she turned. Her brow rose in question.

"…It has been some time since I felt a miko aura."

She nodded and went on.

The inuyoukai was intrigued; the ability to use such energies as a means to sense others was not difficult to do, though that she could belied at what else she could do—what she hadn't been able to do before.

"Mom, Jii-chan?" Kagome called as she just barely rounded the corner and held a hand up for Sesshoumaru to stop.

He knew he could push right through her if he wanted, but he didn't. Despite what the woman had said he still wasn't sure she would keep her word—that she wouldn't succumb to the power she had over him and swallow him in the agony he'd become so accustomed to.

"Kagome, you're up early," her mother said with a smile as she placed something on the table. "I thought you might sleep in. Are you joining us?"

"Uh, yeah… but, I need you all to sit down first. I've… got something to tell you." The urge to look down in apprehension was great, but Kagome resisted. Hearing Souta snicker under his breath made her jaw flex. Her mother didn't appear to have heard it though.

"Is something wrong?"

"Kind of… I guess it depends on your definition of 'wrong'." She bit her lip. "So, yeah, can you sit down?"

Her mother looked curious, if not a little worried as she took a seat at her usual place at the head of the table.

Kagome noted her grandfather hadn't even looked up from his morning paper while he chewed on something—eggs probably.

"So, you know that fude brush you gave me last night, Jii-chan?"

"Eh...?" he looked up, squinting at her. "Of course I do," he huffed. "What do you take me for? An idiot?"

"Of course not, Jii-chan!" she said, exasperated.

"Father," her mother scolded, looking at him. "No one thinks you're an idiot."

Souta rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, so, that brush…"

"What of it?"

Kagome wasn't sure how to say it, so she decided it might be best to just let the actions speak for themselves. She turned to Sesshoumaru and took hold of his arm. He flexed under her grip even as she gently pulled him into full view of her family.

"Who is this, Kagome?" her mother asked.

Her grandfather squinted and stared for a long while. Kagome wanted to answer her mother; in fact, she opened her mouth to do just that. But the way her grandfather was scrutinizing Sesshoumaru made her stop and snap her mouth shut.

Surely he wasn't that blind; he'd been to optometrist just last week.

"Is that the inuyoukai that was trapped in the fude?"

Kagome blinked, stunned. She let that sentence sink in… And then, "_You_ _knew?!_"

"Of course I knew." He tilted his head just so and looked down his nose at the both of them. "Why do you think I got the thing for you?" His tone said some part of him was insulted that she hadn't figured that he knew.

"Do you have any—!"

"Do I know that he's a servant youkai bound a by a curse until a woman mates with him? Of course I knew that. Again, why do you think I got the thing for you?"

Kagome was caught somewhere between wanting to throttle her grandfather or outright scream at the insanity that was the old man.

"You're twenty-one years old, girl. My son married your mother when she was just finishing her studies. I'm not going to wait around for great grandchildren until I'm dead or you finish your extended studies.

"Who knows how long it'll take you."

Souta, by this point, was laughing hysterically; the action threatened to tip his chair back in a way that could cause injury; all while his mother scolded in hushed tones, trying to get him to stop.

"Are you freakin' kidding me?!" Kagome shouted at him. She was going to kill him; she was. "Jii-chan," she breathed venomously, "most people don't get married until after school anymore. I want _a career_.

"Never mind the fact that Sesshoumaru is a youkai. What kind of sense does it make for you to want me to marry a youkai?!"

He sniffed as if totally put out. "You are a very powerful miko."

"What the hell does that even mean?!"

He sighed and rubbed a hand down his face, slapping his paper on the table. "It _means_ you're a damned handful, girl. And a mortal male simply won't do. It means I want you to be happy."

"_By buying me a love slave?!_" she shouted.

"Kami…" her mother whispered, placing a hand on her chest as a blush hit her cheeks.

"See this," he went on as if she hadn't shouted at all. "_This_ is what I mean about you being a handful. See how you've upset your poor mother?"

"_Me?_" she went on, half in a daze at his thread-bare logic and half still wanting to kill him. "I'm… this is nuts... I'm done." At once Kagome whirled out of the room, barely feeling as Sesshoumaru followed her towards the door. He stood next to her as she slipped on her shoes. She stood and reached for the handle, stopping only when he placed a hand on her arm.

Blue orbs were blazing when she met his gaze.

He visibly flinched, diverting his own, and his grip wavered and then dropped.

Kagome's chest tightened and she wondered if she'd hurt him with her anger. She still didn't understand how this whole connection thing worked, but she didn't want to hurt him because of her grandfather. She looked down. "Sorry… I just… I need some fresh air.

"You can come with me."

"…Shoes," he said softly, still not looking at her.

"Right. Sorry again." Kagome reached down and grabbed a pair of Souta's. She handed them over and waited only long enough for him to get them on and stand back up. Then she was out the door and heading to the back yard.

The sweat pants and long sleeved shirt she'd changed into kept her warm enough in the chill of the outdoors. The robe helped as well; though, she hadn't exactly planned on going outside in it.

She could feel Sesshoumaru walking just two steps behind her. It didn't bother her, but she was curious about something and needed a distraction from what her idiot grandfather had revealed to her. Subtly, she slowed her steps and waited… and then he slowed his steps. She tested it again, this time speeding her pace just so… and then he did as well.

Kagome stopped; Sesshoumaru stopped.

She turned to look at him and was not surprised when all the inuyoukai did was stare at her blankly. Her hand went to her hip and she raised a brow at him, head half cocking to the side. The expression was meant to be a question conveyed through body language; however, when he still said nothing she gave a sigh, speaking, "Why are you walking two paces behind me? You did it in the house too."

Sesshoumaru crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.

"Well?"

"Is this a command, mistress?"

"…I told you to quit calling me that," she grumbled. "And _no_…. it's not a command. You don't _have_ to tell me. I'm just… you _can_ walk next to me, you know? You're not my pet dog or something and I kinda hate that you think you have to act like it."

When he didn't say anything Kagome turned and went back to walking towards her destination. She was a little worried he wouldn't come with her, but when she felt him walking beside her a sense of relief bloomed in her chest.

_Guess it's just gonna take time_, she thought._ I'd probably be a little worried too if I'd spent four hundred years dealing with stupid controlling assholes_.

She really couldn't imagine the mighty youkai being used as a sex slave or anything else for that matter. Sesshoumaru had always possessed a commanding aura that could not be tamed. His very presence had shot something through her every time they crossed paths, even in the past. And she knew, secretly, that Inuyasha had always aspired to his level of calm and collected battle serenity. The hanyou had admitted to her once, in the quiet between them, that he wished he hadn't been born the way he was; that he'd give just about anything to have been like his brother.

After they'd patched things up… Kagome wondered if Inuyasha had ever told him that.

Probably not.

The door leading into the bone eater's well slid open with relative ease under her grip and Kagome leapt down the stairs. She could feel the inuyoukai right behind her as she reached for her weapons, skimming through the practice swords until she found one that would do. The wakizashi felt too short; a katana would be better. The o-katanas were nice once in a while, but she didn't plan on taking soldiers out via horseback anytime soon.

"Are they yours?"

Kagome jumped a she turned around, katana in hand. "Uh… yeah," she told Sesshoumaru, wondering at the scrutinizing look in his eyes. "It helps to let off steam this way sometimes," she told him as she looked down and to the side. "I'm not used to grandfather pissing me off… but, I suppose it happens." She stared at the hilt as she gripped the sheathed weapon to her chest.

Her gaze returned to his suddenly when she felt his hands on her shoulders. Gently, he rubbed circles with his thumbs. It was… comforting. "…Are you doing that thing again?"

"What thing would that be?"

"That thing where you use your emotions to make me feel better?"

"Would it help if I did?"

She opened her mouth to say she wasn't sure, but shut it when Sesshoumaru started brushing hair out of her eyes; her body softened as he smoothed his hands through her scalp and across her temples—scratching. Lethargically, her eyes shut and she sighed. "…You're really good at that."

He hummed in acceptance, but said nothing else.

Kagome shifted on her feet after a while. Despite how good it felt she needed to work the tension out of her body. "I'm going to practice." And then she pulled out of his grasp and dashed up the stairs and through the door to the main yard just between the shrine and the well house.

Letting out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding—because, apparently, that's the kind of effect he had on her—Kagome slipped off her robe and laid it out on the stony ground. Then she removed the katana from the sheathe it was contained in and stepped into the center of the yard. Her eyes closed as she took a stance, inhaled, and then exhaled a slow breath.

_Focus_.

Pink energy coiled in her body; it circulated through her veins and down her arms. All at once she felt it running along the edge of her blade. Her eyes snapped open and she wove into her forms.

Sesshoumaru leaned into the frame of the door on the well-house. His arms crossed over his chest and his lazy amber hues followed the miko as she worked on her technique. White bangs brushed along the violet-red markings that indicated what he was to a world that barely cared anymore, brushed along his lids stained in the same shade that looked more like eye shadow than what they were.

He wasn't prone to voicing his pleasure unless it suited him, much less thinking on it; it rarely did. However, he could silently confirm that there was a very distinct pleasure to be found in watching Kagome use the weapon in her hand has if it were merely an extension of her body. She practically danced, feet barely touching the ground as the magenta-brilliance coiled around them. That energy wove through her body and along the practice katana she cut the air with around her. Sometimes she executed her patterns with one hand, sometimes two. What she did was not entirely kendo, no, but something altogether hers. He half wondered if she truly had the strength to cut into another being one-handed the way he did, the way his brother did occasionally; correction—had.

The magenta coloring told him this was more than likely.

Miko, more often than naught, used their power in traditional methods: sealing and slaying youkai. He'd never seem someone use it as a youkai might use their own energy and harness it into something they could bend to their will.

She was a unique creature, his new master—mistress.

The idea felt alien to him, entirely separated. He viewed these thoughts as one might view an animal behind a pane of glass in a zoo—observant, systematic, and totally clinical.

Still… there was something clandestine about her dance…

He watched on for the entire hour she continued this bout of aggressive release. And while she was interesting, he was a youkai who was accustomed to living in his own head as of recent.

Thus, his mind wandered voluntarily.

He wondered about his former ward, as he was wont to do. The last time he'd seen Rin she'd had three hanyou pups of her own—in effect, his surrogate grandchildren. The girl had happily mated with one of his pack members; an inuyoukai who had been entirely devoted to her the moment he'd laid eyes on her.

As far he knew she was still alive and well. The last time he'd felt the spark of her youkai connection with her mate had been some thirty cycles ago…

Sesshoumaru silently lamented on how his mother had made him miss out on watching his adoptive grandchildren grow into full adulthood, how she made him miss out on taking them on their first hunt with their father, and how she'd made him miss out on watching the twins his daughter had been carrying at the time come into the world screaming and wet.

All for arrogance and pride…

His eyes focused on the miko and he was suddenly reminded of her promise to locate his devil of a mother and make her retract the curse.

He didn't believe her, and not because he thought it was impossible to accomplish; rather, he didn't believe her because eventually the other shoe would drop. She'd realize what a valuable asset he was chained and under her control. Kagome would do just as all his other masters had done before her.

It was inevitable.

* * *

><p>"What were you thinking?"<p>

"I'm not sure I—."

"A sex slave, father? A _youkai sex slave?_"

"It's not as bad as all that."

Kagome's mother was distraught. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest even as she clutched her breast and tried to will it to slow down. Her head was swimming as she sat adjacent to the man who'd taken her and his grandchildren in years ago. "You bought a cursed item for my baby girl. You bought a _man_ for her. You're a priest," she whispered in disbelief as if that explained it all.

The old man sighed long and hard. He was happy he'd told the boy to go to his room. He didn't need to be around to watch his mother fall apart. It reminded all too much of how she'd been all those years ago when his son…

He could recall the way she'd stood on his doorstep, tears in her eyes while the background was blanketed in the rain and the gray; the way she looked while she clutched Kagome's hand in her own—a lifeline—as her other rubbed her swollen belly. It was as though she had been trying to ease Souta's phantom pain at the loss of a father he would never meet.

"You're making a mountain out of a molehill, Ruki," he told her plainly and as if he were wiser now than he'd ever show in all the time they'd lived in his home. "The boy will be good for her. Trust me."

"How can you know that? None of this even makes sense."

"She has a choice, you know? Kagome doesn't have to mate with him. It's up to her, really. She can go on doing what she wants.

"If nothing else, the girl has a solid protector should she not be able to take care of herself; though, she's quite adept at that." He gave a snort, both proud and put out by his granddaughter's carefully constructed skill-set. His arms crossed over his chest as he sat back, straighter even, in his chair. "There's nothing for you to be upset about." He waved a hand as it mattered little, the new addition to their family.

She blinked at him owlishly. "You're saying this is somehow better than when she went back in time for weeks on end?" Her brow knit and her eyes remained doubtful even as she stared at her father-in-law.

"It is," he said as if it really were. It was.

She sighed long and hard and somehow his assurance made the wild beatings in her heart subside. "Where will he even stay? The spare room?"

"With Kagome. He cannot be more than five feet from her for very long without being put in grievous pain."

"You expect me to allow a man to stay with her in her room? A man she is not married to?"

His white brows raised high on his head at that, as if it were the strangest thing she'd ever said before. "Kagome spent weeks at a time in the past without you knowing where she went or who she was with—what dangers she encountered. And you're more worried about a youkai under her every beck and call sleeping in her room?"

"…When you put it like that it does sound rather impractical of me," she admitted softly as her shoulders slumped. Her hands were carefully folded in her lap as she sat; her eyes went to them.

He grunted. "The room she's in isn't close enough to any other for him to sleep separated from her. So, unless you want the boy bunking in the bathroom between her and Souta's room, he's going to have to stay with her.

"Besides… they'll be mated, married, soon enough."

"This has very little to do with great grandchildren, does it, Father?"

"What do you think?"

Another long sigh as her eyes drew upward to some speck on the ceiling. "I think you have too many secrets, but I know you have always done what is best for us. It's enough.

"For now."

* * *

><p>Kagome pondered the back door to her house while she stood there and stared at it, sweat-slicked and in sore need of a shower. She knew she needed to go in, but she wasn't quite sure she wanted to face her mother or her grandfather yet; much less her brother, who was sure to jibe at her dilemma even more.<p>

Granted, she felt better; just not good enough to go through the house and risk detection.

Kagome sighed. "Guess I'll take the window." She dropped her hand from her hip and turned towards the side alley of the shrine. Sesshoumaru was right next to her in the pass of moment, apparently taking her 'walk beside me' suggestion to heart.

"Are you planning to scale your own home?" he asked her.

"That's about the gist of it, yes." She stopped as they came to the part that was just under her window. She looked up and eyed the paned glass. "I need a shower and I'm hungry. I can do the first one here, but I think we're gonna go out for the second. Well, if you want to come with me." She looked over at him.

"I have little choice in the matter."

She frowned suddenly and her eyes down-casted briefly. "Oh, right, that whole five feet thing you mentioned… how long can you be more than five feet from me?"

"The pain begins as a dull ache almost immediately," he told her without looking at her. "Though, it does not become what I would consider painful until perhaps two hours have passed."

"That's not so bad, I guess." _At least I know I can shower in privacy_. Kagome squared her shoulders. "Alright, up I go." She focused energy in the soles of her feet, bent her knees, and then jumped. She let out an exhale as she landed on the lower secondary roof that jutted out of the shrine.

Her home had once been entirely separate from the shrine itself. But, when the renovations occurred the two were been combined into one. Now half of the wooden structure made up her home while the other half made up the public area of the shrine itself. Though, seamlessly, they looked like one building.

She blinked when she stood and Sesshoumaru was right next to her with just as much ease and lack of effort as she'd executed herself. She wasn't surprised, just taken off guard because she was focused on sliding the window open to her room.

Without a word she stepped inside, waiting for him to do the same, and then shut the window behind them both. "I'm going to rinse the sweat off. Do you want to shower first?"

"I shall do as you prefer, mis—."

"Please stop," she said once more of the title, feeling injured by it. Still, she didn't look away. She watched as he swallowed hard, face a void; the bobbing of his Adam's apple was the only indication something about her request bothered him. Feeling bold, she stepped up to him and placed a hand on his bicep. Her touch was gentle even as he stiffened under it. It took a moment for him to release that tension, and, she watched as he closed his eyes. "I want you to do what you want… not just what you think I want.

"I… I get that other people hurt you. But, I'm just not the type of person to think of someone as a possession. I can't." Her voice was soft, strong, but her chest fought with her to make it shaky and unsure.

"So... um… do you want to take a shower first?" She'd just have to keep nudging him. Eventually, he'd realize she meant what she said. Hopefully. Or maybe she'd find Inuyasha and he'd knock some sense into him. _Yeah, maybe._

He looked down at her finally, amber hues opening and locking on her own sapphire ones. Kagome didn't look away, though her breath caught just so at that the way he stared into her. _Yeah… right into me_.

There… just barely… _yes_; she could see the fire. That same fire she'd seen when he'd first looked at her last night. It wasn't a glare, no, it was as though she could see the man he'd been before hidden under carefully constructed layers. He didn't want them to see it—the aggression, the blaze of fury at what had been done to him, the passion. There was something beautiful about that and she found herself wanting to see more of it.

_I wonder…_

"Well?" she prompted as she dropped her hold on his arm. Her own two crossed over her chest and she took on a slightly haughty appearance. "Are you just trying to get me to go first because you think I smell bad?" _Don't push too much_, she told herself. _Don't wanna scare him_.

And then his eyes widened a fraction. He blinked once.

"You do, don't you?" she went on, feeling more confident in her baiting. "I mean, I know I was working pretty hard. I can't exactly help it if I sweat." Her hands went to her hips. "Just because you probably don't—."

"Are you implying that I find your scent unappealing?" he interrupted.

"Well why else would you not wanna take a shower first?"

"I never mentioned that I did not want to."

She snorted purposefully. "You didn't have to." And then she saw his jaw flex. _Good_.

"You are most certainly implying things about This Sesshoumaru that are simply not true."

"So says you." And then she turned away from him. "I think I hit the mark pretty well—." And that was about the time she found a hand had snapped over her arm; that same hand twirled her around to face a perturbed-looking youkai.

"I do not find your scent unappealing. Cease presuming what This Sesshoumaru thinks, or, does not think."

Kagome resisted the urge to smile. "Does that mean you want to take the shower first?"

A beat of a moment passed before he released her and cut his gaze from her own. "…Yes."

Briefly, she wondered if he knew what she'd done. Intelligently, she decided not to tell him.

Without saying a word she stepped over to the door, along her wall, the one that led to the bathroom she and Souta shared between their rooms. Again, he was right behind her as she slipped in. It would have been locked if her brother was in there. Thinking on it, she locked the door directly across the way that led into his room. "Alright, so towels are here," she said as she opened a cabinet and pointed, glancing back at him. "You said it's been twenty years since the last time you were in the real world, so I'm going to assume you know how to use a shower."

He nodded.

"Good. Alright, do you want different clothes or will those be fine?"

"The ones I have on will do."

"Ok then. Enjoy." With that she was out of the room and shutting the door behind her. _At least he's talking more_. When he didn't lock the door behind her she shrugged.

"I guess I'll just pick something out…" she said to herself, feeling a little bored just then and wondering where they'd go to eat. And then that made her wonder if he could hide his inuyoukai marks and pointed ears. Japanese people had a way of overlooking things… but… yeah.

_It'll probably be ok_.

* * *

><p>The was quite the problem, he mused with mild irritation.<p>

Quite the problem.

He simply didn't understand how this all worked. It looked far more complicated than it needed to be; however, pride dictated that he at least try to figure it out.

The inuyoukai, Lord of The Western Lands—former, stepped into the large glass and tiled enclosure and clicked the door shut behind him. Really… were large bathing rooms with equally large baths brought on by water pumped in from a hot spring not good enough anymore?

He stared on at all the knobs and buttons secretly wished for a keen ability to simply understand how something worked just by looking at it. Had showers really become so thoroughly detailed in the last twenty years?

Sesshoumaru resisted the urge to growl-sigh in frustration and began turned a knob.

And then he howled.

Water began to spray at him from several directions at once—water that was far too hot that held far more pressure than he'd been prepared for. He began to hit buttons, knobs, and cursed loudly when the water went from molten hot to freezing.

Vaguely, he heard his named being called. And then soft skin pressed against his and guided him out of the way. A female voice was cursing just as loudly as he was while he listened to tiny beeps and clicks. Finally, the water stopped.

Sesshoumaru exhaled lowly, barely repressed venomous rage in the sound. Amber orbs flashed to Kagome, who was looking at him with wide sapphire hues. He was too irritated too appreciate her nudity, and, she was apparently too surprised to blush about it—to be aroused by his own.

And somehow, that made it worse.

"This," his bit off, "is not a shower. _This_," he went on, "is a death trap." His jaw flexed as he focused on her further, eyes narrowing. "Miko," he seethed word, "why must your bathing device maintain so many buttons?"

Kagome, trying not to look mildly amused, thought he looked an awful lot like a wet dog with his mussed up long silvery hair, growling eyes, growling words, and with water rolling down his face and dripping from his points of his ears—which, were more prominent now that his hair was soaked and flat.

"_Miko_," he snapped.

She jumped. "It came with the renovations," she told him simply. "And don't be so pissy; it's not a big deal." Though, secretly she was glad he was upset enough to act like this, to forget that he should be afraid… thought that he should be, anyway.

He growled again and stepped further into her space.

Kagome moved until her back was plastered against the tile wall.

"You have done this intentionally to This Sesshoumaru," he accused her.

"I did not!" Kagome said in disbelief, pushing off the wall just enough. Her eyes were wide with it, her mouth wide. He couldn't think that! "How was I supposed to know you didn't know how to use it?!"

"Stop shouting," he said next. "This is your fault, not mine. I wanted a bath, not to be cooked and frozen all in the same passage of time."

"Don't tell me what to do!" she bit back, hands on her hips. Her eyes narrowed. "It's not my fault you couldn't figure it, Oh Great Lord of The Western Lands!"

His eyes blazed at her insult. He placed a hand on the wall behind her, closing in a glaring. "Hold your tongue! Nothing is beyond my scope of understanding. Your shower is simply too imbecilic in the additional trappings it does not require."

"Oh, what_ever_," she huffed, trying not to squirm under his scrutiny and close proximity. "You just don't want to admit that great and mighty inuyoukai couldn't figure out a simple piece of human technology."

"Nothing," he emphasized, glowering, "is beyond me."

"Oh, really?" she asked airily with defiance as she held up a hand. "Well then, Great Lord, enlighten me." She waved it at the knobs. "Figure it out. The sooner you do the sooner you can shower, I can, and we can both go eat."

He stared at her for a time, unwilling to admit defeat, all the while trying to will that smug expression off her face. With angry breath he shoved off the wall and broke the spell of their locked gazes to stare at the knobs and buttons.

Really, it would take a miracle for him to figure this out, or, a booklet with diagrams on just how to work this travesty that was entirely unneeded. If he ever got out of this situation and maintained a residence of his own the shower would be simple, the bath simpler, and nothing would cause him so much vexation.

"Ready to give up already?" she chided him.

"Silence."

Kagome chuckled even when he growled at her for that. "Oh, just admit it and I'll show you how it works. C'mon. It's not that big a deal."

He said nothing and Kagome waited. She crossed her arms over her chest and moved to lean back into the tiled wall. She observed him curiously, idly ogling and doing her best not to get turned on. But, she figured even if she did the youkai was probably too distracted and focused to notice.

Not that it would be a bad thing if he did notice.

It should probably bother her that she was naked as well, but anger kinda overrid that embarrassment. Besides, he didn't appear put off by his own nudity, and, there was something about being around person who lacked all shame that put her at ease. It was akin to going to a costume party; you felt fine all dorked up because everyone else was in costume. But, if you'd been the only one to show up in some overdone outfit… well, it'd feel silly.

He didn't feel silly, so she didn't.

Seemed to make sense.

That didn't stop her from thinking it'd be nice if they did something else in the shower besides butt heads while he denied understanding how it worked. And he really was focused. Actually, it looked more like he was glaring at the panel of knobs and buttons rather than trying to figure out—as if just by doing so would make it function properly and work _for_ him without any effort on his part.

"Turn it on, Miko."

"I'm sorry?"

"Turn it on so that I might bathe."

Kagome's mouth curved a smile and mirth danced in her eyes as she stepped over towards the controls. "I thought you were going to figure it out."

"This Sesshoumaru has. I will allow you to turn it on and we will bathe together."

"We will?"

"Yes."

"And what makes you think This Kagome will do either of those things?" Mirth was still dancing in her eyes when his fiery amber gaze met hers.

"Because," he punctuated, "you are aroused."

And really, that was all that needed to be said about _that_.

* * *

><p><strong>AN ::<strong> I somehow managed to put myself two chapters ahead of the posted chapter. Which, is awesome. It means you guys will get updates the first of the month every month along with my Naruto readers keeping up with Vicissitude. Well, as long as nothing strange happens…

_Cheers!_

—**Blade **


	4. Chapter Four

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The Taming of the Stubborn Inuyoukai

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><p><em>It's been one week since you looked at me<em>

_Threw your arms in the air_

_and said "You're crazy"_

_Five days since you tackled me_

_I've still got the rug burns on both my knees_

_It's been three days since the afternoon_

_You realized it's not my fault_

_not a moment too soon_

_Yesterday you'd forgiven me_

_And now I sit back and wait til you say you're sorry._

—_One Week - Barenaked Ladies_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four<strong>|Shower Hugs

There was once a time when Sesshoumaru wasn't very good at sex; contrary to rumors from yokai females during a time in which Rin had been a tumbling ball of orange and black, speaking about herself in third person, he had not partaken of such pleasures… not often, at any rate. It wasn't important, and he'd refused to be driven by the desires familiar to his kind—desires that were stronger than they were for humans. When the heat came around it was a messy, quick, and selfish affair. He took someone willing and cared very little for their own release beyond what it took to give it to them, gain his own, and be done with it.

And the whys were simple enough to answer: he didn't like losing control. Sex more than implied you lose control; sometimes it implied you gave that control to someone else. He enjoyed neither even if it was difficult not to enjoy all the other things that went along with it: soft skin under his hands, nails biting into his back, velvet lips relenting and fighting against his own, the smell of arousal that plunged him further into the depths of want, sounds that urged him on to keep going, and the ache that boiled over into climax when it reached its end.

He liked all of that; he just hadn't liked the implied vulnerabilities.

And maybe that was part of the reason why he hadn't wanted to mate; perhaps it had been another reason he hadn't considered entirely. For, after the mating his mother would bother him to give him grandchildren, heirs. It was course of things; the natural order of things.

But, Sesshoumaru had spent the better part of over four hundred years in service to others. The very nature of his confinement made him want to give them pleasure. It wasn't entirely instinctual, but when he felt that want it became desire for him. And he'd fought against it before for such a long time, enduring the pain of emotions whoever held his leash sent through the connection a purpose. I wasn't that he was magiced to want sex, to find release and help his masters find it; it was that he'd felt that need in Kagome. It was habit, brought on by years of punishment for not acting—for not seeing to that want—need. That was why he reacted now.

Over time he's grown used to being treated this way, to reacting this way to those whom he was tethered to. There was no loss of pride; he had not a lot of it to spare anyway, not when he was but a mere plaything. What little he did have, however, he used to separate himself from many of the ordeals he endured—to go into the void.

And yet he found himself doing the exact opposite with his brother's former love interest. He'd done as much the night before because of the aggression, the desire, that had built up over the inability to act on the heat for twenty years. Now, he blamed her kind nature, the way she'd bit her lip and laughed at him with her blue eyes before he'd pounced on her after she'd turned on the shower. He blamed the way she was so easy going and had told him to be himself. He blamed the lack of a hidden agenda in her eyes, the one he hadn't seen in the others—the one he'd learned to spot.

She didn't have it.

And that scared him more, the lack of proof telling him she would change her mind.

He'd heard it before; the kind ones were the worst. The kind ones started off kind, started off sweet, nice, telling him they would never use him like an object… never treat him as anything other than a person. But, the agenda was there… always there. Somewhere on the cusp of their mind they wondered… what if I…

And it wore off, the desire to be nice when they knew they didn't have to. Absolute power corrupted absolutely. It always did. And the hidden agenda always told him from the beginning—the dark spot in their eyes—that they would give into that desire because no one would stop them. There was no consequence.

But, she didn't have it.

He pushed it from his mind, sending it away as if he couldn't bear to have knowledge of that fact; he pushed it away and pressed his lips into hers further, slanting his face to make it deeper with a groan. He pressed her back into the shower's tiled side wall and lifted her by her thighs, pulling her up so he could settle between her legs.

She gasped against his mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck; that gasp was mirrored in its escape from his own mouth as his length slid along her folds.

"You know…" she murmured when he pulled away from her mouth, when his lips trailed along her jaw and to her neck—sucking, nipping, "you don't have to do this everytime I get horny."

"Are you asking me to stop…?" he whispered against her ear, voice husky, stilling all of his actions save for the way his hips pressed forward and once again made that hardness of his grind against her soft core.

He pulled back and watched as she bit her lip, as her head lulled back against the wall behind her. "Uh… no…" she managed, visibly swallowing as her eyes closed. "I'm just saying you don't _have_ to. I'm not a nympho…

"Though… if this keeps up with you, I might very well find myself joining a new club."

And then he smirked, pleased with himself at her response. Kagome wasn't the first to tell him as much, though he'd never heard it in such an unusually innocent and honest manner before. Her variation on language was amusing if nothing else.

"Then I shall continue," he told her just before taking her lips with his own again. And he did, grinding and sliding his cock against her folds over and over until she was shaking for it, wanting for it, until her nails were digging into his scalp and half tugging on his hair. He did so until he was growling into her mouth, her ear, and until his claws were damn near biting to draw blood from her body as they pressed into her thighs.

They could both find release like this; it wouldn't be hard to come from such an ongoing tease. But, he wanted to feel the heat of her enfolding him, surrounding him.

"Sess…" she began, and then cried out as he shifted his footing and plunged into her.

He desire was so great at that moment he found images filtering into his mind of doing more than fucking her against a shower wall. He saw other ways of taking her—of her taking him, other ways to torment them both into oblivion, and so many more things than brought a want in him to keep her locked up in her room all day long.

"Fuck… that's good… don't stop," she grunted in his ear brokenly, holding into him and trying to move with him. "Harder," she commanded with a soft snap, falling into that mutual desire with him—swept away with the arousal.

He obliged her, was more than happy to. His jaw flexed and he pressed his forehead into the wall behind her. His hips thrust harder and skin slapped against skin. Her breath, his, came short as her legs locked around him tighter. It wasn't about the exertion for either of them, he knew; rather, it had everything to do with being so close to that peak. And she wanted it so badly, he could sense it in the way her nails tore across the flesh of his shoulders and in how she jerked and tried to grind against him.

His blood was on fire as he twisted his hips and ground his pelvic bone into her clitoris. Every cry she shouted after then, every shout of his name under the mollifying effect of the shower running, urged him further.

He was close… so close…

"Kagome…" he breathed against her neck, once again allowing his fangs to scrape as they had last night. He sucked, lapped, nipped. The canines hurt with the desire to claim her, to make her his—something he blamed on his mother's spell because they'd never hurt before being bound to the fude when he copulated.

"Yes, I…" she spoke as he head lulled back and she bore her neck to his mouth further.

It was enough, he thought as he sunk down on her flesh, piercing it as he drove into her over and over again. It sated the pain just enough, made it ebb well enough despite not being what he really needed it to be—a mating claim. But, that would require her acceptance and reciprocation.

And then she tightened around him at the pleasure his bite caused them; her whole body seized up and trembled. Her thighs locked against him to the point of near-pain. It almost stopped him from moving for fear of hurting her. Though, he managed enough friction to find oblivion himself, crying out near the end of her own vocal echoes of pleasure.

And after that all he could hear was their mutual breaths sometimes echoing in tandem, the roar of the shower, and sucking lull of water down the drain behind them. Carefully, he withdrew from her neck and then sucked, lapped, at the broken skin. He rumbled with something akin to a growl, maybe a purr; it was a sound of contentment and pleasure he couldn't quite control once it made itself known. But, he didn't imagine Kagome would laugh at him over it; perhaps when the shine wore off she would, but not now.

Her legs slid from his hips as he pulled away from her heat. Hands settled on her waist as he made sure to steady her. When her own arms went around his waist and she sighed he did not mind the affection. Her cheek on his chest made him draw a hand upward; it went to her head and stroked slowly, rolling over wet black hair.

"That was unexpected; nice, but unexpected." She squeezed once, thinking even as she spoke it. She supposed she meant more than just the sex with that statement, not that he really needed to know. It was going to take her a little while to come to grips with the fact that she had a youkai, Sesshoumaru of all people, at her literal beck and call. But, for some reason, it didn't take her long to adjust to this new part of their relationship… even if she couldn't quite believe it was happening. She knew it wasn't a dream, had never been, but if you'd asked her when she was fifteen if she ever imagined doing this at twenty-one with him of all people? Kagome probably would have laughed in your face; that is, if she hadn't been too busy blushing at the implication.

Even at fifteen she'd thought the inuyoukai seriously edible. But, her fifteen year-old self would have never voiced that. Depending on the company she still wouldn't voice it.

But, there wasn't much point in being too shy when he'd essentially screwed her brains out in less than twenty-four hours. Well, not at least when they were like this and no one else was around, when he wasn't pushing her away or giving her a dressing down with his eyes. This Sesshoumaru… he felt content just to hold her after what they'd done. So… surreal. Nice, but surreal.

…and the not-purr noises were nice too.

Whatever they were.

* * *

><p>He'd agreed to the beanie, for which she was glad. The weather was cold enough that it wouldn't seem weird for him to have it on. It covered enough of his ears that she wouldn't have to worry about questions. The markings on his face were enough; people would think he was in some weird band, cosplaying, or something else. She would have thought that his mother would have been thoughtful enough to have given him a way to hide what made him appear as a daiyoukai of the inu; however, it occurred to her that when his mother had enacted the curse there's been little need for him to hide what he was. She couldn't have possibly foreseen what the world would become, how many people there'd be.<p>

Speaking of which, she mulled as she walked side by side down the sidewalk with Sesshoumaru, she needed to figure out a way to locate the woman. Up until now all of her searches for the swords had essentially left her with nothing to show for. And now that Sesshoumaru had told her that Inuyasha was still out there somewhere it stood to reason that he'd kept his Tessaiga. She'd been wasting her time if one didn't count all the things she'd learned, things she would have been better off knowing when she was fifteen and traversing all over the feudal era like it was one big picnic.

How had she not died? Kami, it was a miracle when one considered how stubborn and stupid Inuyasha had been.

But, if she couldn't find them by searching for sword collectors… then how did she expect to find her otherwise? She needed to do some serious plotting with her new house guest.

"You said you can sometimes sense the others?" she asked, breaking the comfortable silence as she opened the door to her favorite café. They both stepped in and he met her gaze.

"When they allow their youki to be felt, yes. It is rare and fleeting, but I can." He stopped next to her as she waited in front of a podium.

Kagome opened her mouth to say something else, but a waitress came up.

"Just two?"

"Yes, thank you," Kagome replied.

The waitress smiled brightly. "This way. We've got two booths left for the breakfast crowd. Coffee? Or you need some time to think on drinks?"

The miko took a seat, pulling off her jacket while Sesshoumaru took his place across from her. "Uh, yeah, defo on the coffee. Make it a café latte with soy? No extras.

"What about you, Sesshoumaru?"

"A coffee will be fine."

The waitress set the menus on the table, one in front of each of them. "You got it. Be back in ten or so." She flashed a grin and then left.

She had to tell herself he didn't look silly in that beanie given what she knew of Sesshoumaru in the past. It wasn't that it was silly; it wouldn't have been if she hadn't known all she knew of him from the feudal era. It just would have been some guy wearing a beanie. But, he wasn't. Still, she kept the inner silly smile to herself, focusing more on what she needed to know. "Alright… so they can hide it?" She frowned and leaned back in the high-backed booth. Her blue eyes darted upward and she tapped her chin with her pointer finger. The other arm settled under her sweater-covered chest. "What about scent?"

Sesshoumaru gave a sigh and crossed his arms over his chest as he regarded her. "There are many scents in Japan now, not all of them kind to the nose of a youkai. It masks what was natural, overpowering almost everything else.

"I can follow a scent as I once did, but it's easier to lose it if others become too overpowering."

"Have you never tried to find them before?"

"None of my masters allowed me to when I asked. Eventually, I stopped asking altogether." He didn't know why he admitted the last bit; it was too honest without being forced to tell it.

But Kagome didn't appear to dwell on it beyond the pang on hurt he barely saw in her eyes. He could feel the empathy she had for him almost immediately. Soon, he realized, he would have to teach her how to block her emotions from him. It didn't hurt him unless she directed them at him purposefully—anger among others, but he wasn't sure he enjoyed knowing exactly how she felt all the time.

"Mmmm…" she hummed instead, biting her lower lip and she let her arms settle on the table. She was looking at some spot on near her arms, her eyes narrowing in her ponderings. "Well, what if we tried finding them that way? Scent or sensing the youki? We can team up on the last one, now that I know they're probably in Japan still."

"We can certainly try," he agreed, unwilling to get his hopes up. It was a long held belief of his that his mother had simply washed her hands of him, given up all desire for his return. He wondered if she was disgusted by him now, thinking him a failure, or, eternally too stubborn to bend to her wishes.

Kagome must have felt something in him, because her eyes took on this look of sorrowful empathy and she reached out to take his hand on the table in her own. He let her soft fingers curl around his palm, he let both sets do that when her other reached out. He didn't look away from her indigo gaze as she squeezed and offered a smile. "We'll find them," she whispered. "We'll find them and fix this. I promise. Even if you don't believe me, I promise."

He didn't, but he appreciated her sentiment regardless.

"Here ya go, one coffee and a café latte," their waitress said as she suddenly appeared.

Kagome, as if suddenly realizing where they were, released him with briefly wide eyes and jerked her hands back. She tucked them into her lap and blushed. Blue eyes darted downward. "Thank you," she said loud enough to heard, but with a quiet nonetheless.

The waitress smiled as she set the mugs down. "Do you know what you'd like?"

"I'll the breakfast sushi special," she told her.

"And you?" the woman asked Sesshoumaru.

"The same."

"You sure?" Kagome asked, blinking at him. "It's a little different from traditional sushi."

"Is there fish in it?"

"Well…. yeah. But they put eggs and stuff in too; bacon. It's a little Americanized."

"This Sesshoumaru will be fine with it then."

The waitress raised a brow at him before shrugging and then jotting it down on her pad. "Anything else?"

"Two miso soups," Kagome told her. "That'll do it though."

"Alright, shouldn't be longer than fifteen or twenty minutes." And then she was gone again, tucking the little pad in her apron.

Ok, so it really didn't matter how downright naughty Sesshoumaru made her feel behind closed doors, how perfectly fine he made her feel being so confident and sexy; at the end of the day she was still a pretty typical Japanese girl who didn't deal with public displays of affection really well; which, was probably good. Her friends came to this café; she didn't need them knowing about her newest roommate. It was bad enough Eri and the others had met Inuyasha years ago by accident.

She shook her head and slapped her cheeks a few times, earning her a quirked brow from the inuyoukai. She frowned at him pointedly and the just stuck her tongue out at him. There was a twinkle in his eyes—which, was odd—but nothing more. "Alright," she went on. "so, back to business. I've got work tomorrow and the day after. But, I have the one after that off. We can make a day of it and go youkai-hunting."

"Work…?" he questioned. "I thought you were a student based on the argument you had with your grandfather."

Kagome frowned. "Well, yeah, but I've got a job working in the lower tiers of my field already because I've got a bachelors and did some intern work during my AA. I was pretty lucky…" She blinked as it dawned on her that he'd have to come to work with her. "Uh… so you're gonna have to be that weird tattoo thing on me all day…"

"Unless you insist on leaving me behind."

"Big no on that," she answered, frowning again. "Just make sure no one sees you. Do I need to feed you or anything while you're like that? What about going to the bathroom?"

His face continued to give nothing away. "While I am in that form there is a lack of need for anything. You should, however, know that I am able to speak in your mind and you in mine while I am."

That made her worry a little. "Like… you'll be able to read my thoughts…?"

"No, but if you talk to me directly and with intent I will hear you."

"Oh, ok, good." That was a relief. "You're alright with going on a hunting trip three days from now?"

"I will go where you go. If you want to search for youkai on your next day off I will have to go with you unless you order me to stay."

"Which you know I won't do." She snorted with a smile. On the inside she knew he didn't think they'd find them. And really… could she blame him? She hadn't lived through it, but, had she, she probably would have wanted to kill herself. She wasn't sure she'd have been sane. How was he? Was he? "So…" she began with her next round of questioning, "you never answered my one question before. But, if you don't want to, it's ok."

"Which was?"

Her eyes were downcast and the pointer finger on one hand traced circles into the table. "Well… about you being a sex slave…" she whispered, not wanting anyone to hear even in the busy and loud café. "I mean… is there something about the spell that makes you…" she trailed off, hoping he would get it. The blush that was rising to her features because she was asking something so personal in a public place was enough.

And then there was this quiet for a time and she wondered if there had been a reason why he hadn't told her before. It made her look up at him to see if he was upset. He didn't look at different than he had before, really. She did blink as he got up though and came to her side of the booth. Kagome instantly scooted over so he would have room; she grabbed her coat and stuffed it between herself and the wall to her left.

"Um…"

"I assumed you didn't want this spoken of loudly," he told her as he placed his hands on the table, interlinking them. "You feelings hinted as much."

"Oh."

"To begin with," he started with his tone lowered several levels, "I am not programmed to be a 'sex slave', as you call it, by the spell my mother cast. That programming has everything to do with what I feel from my master, and, with what punishment I have endured if I did not attend to the needs which I felt." He felt detached telling her, separated from it all. That's how he had to be. And really, he was used to it, but he wasn't. No one had ever asked him why he did it. They all assumed after the first two or three masters beat it into him that he was bespelled to be a sex slave—that he had to be.

And those rare moments he didn't react quickly enough they made gave him the bite of pain he loathed and had grown accustomed to.

"So… you do it because…"

"I am accustomed to it," he finished for her. "It's simply the way it is, miko."

Her eyes shot to his with such force that he looked at her, amber meeting blue. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing… it's just…" she started, smiling slowly, softly, "…that's the first time you've called me something other than mistress when you weren't all pissed off, or, you know… doing _something else_."

He felt that she was truly happy for it. She was, he realized. It made her beyond happy that he had done something so simple as to call her miko. He was half tempted to call her Kagome, just as she was hinting he'd called her during their act in the shower, just to see what that would cause her to feel; already, he was reconsidering that he would explain to her how to block her emotions from him.

It was something to think about.


	5. Chapter Five

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The Taming of the Stubborn Inuyoukai

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><p><em>It's been one week since you looked at me<em>

_Threw your arms in the air_

_and said "You're crazy"_

_Five days since you tackled me_

_I've still got the rug burns on both my knees_

_It's been three days since the afternoon_

_You realized it's not my fault_

_not a moment too soon_

_Yesterday you'd forgiven me_

_And now I sit back and wait til you say you're sorry._

—_One Week - Barenaked Ladies_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Five<strong>|Real Talk

When Kagome finally came home it was after supper and quite dark outside. She and Sesshoumaru had eaten elsewhere so that she could prolong returning as long as possible; at least, as long as it took for her family to eat so she wouldn't be forced to sit at the same table as her grandfather. But, being the responsible individual she was, she had sent a text to her mother informing her so she wouldn't worry. Of course, the return text had clearly indicated, however subversively, that they were going to talk. And Kagome wasn't worried, but her mother could be decidingly motivating she wanted to be. Kagome was going to have to hold her ground once she explained Sesshoumaru had to sleep in the same room with her, and she didn't want to fight with her. She's rarely ever fought with her mother; she couldn't remember fighting with her since she'd been a little girl trying to convince her she just had to have that stupid thing in the store… or whatever.

Truth be told, her father's death had come for her at a young age, and it'd taken a toll on the whole family; a consequence for Kagome had been maturing. Arguing with her mother hadn't been dire even while she'd been so small; it was hard to justify doing so to a woman who tried to hide her tears at night when you got up to get a glass of water. Why would you ever want to upset such a person? Kagome, thankfully, had had the intuitiveness to know better. She'd taken to dealing with Souta as he grew more often than she probably should have just to give her mother time to breathe.

Her mother wasn't weak and broken by any means, but it had taken her years to recover from losing Kagome's father.

Maybe that's why it had come so naturally for her to mother Shippo, to harp on Inuyasha even when her mother had rarely harped on her or her brother more than what was expected—and always in that soft voice that firmly implored they mind themselves.

She shook these thoughts away as she stepped up to the front door and gave a sigh. Blue eyes looked over at Sesshoumaru next to her. He met her gaze with something akin to curiosity, as if knowing she was going to ask him something; he probably did, given that he could sense her emotions.

"I've got to have a talk with my mother. I know you can't be away from me for long… but it shouldn't take more than an hour, I hope. Is that alright? Or, would you rather be in your tattoo form?"

"I can wait in your room. If it takes longer than two hours I will endure it."

Kagome frowned. "It won't." When he didn't say anything she refrained from sighing and opened the door. She let Sesshoumaru shut it behind them both as she moved to take off her shoes.

"Kagome?" she heard from the kitchen.

"I just got home!" she called back, glancing at Sesshoumaru. He'd already slipped his shoes off—Souta's—and gave her a nod before moving towards the stairs and departing. She hadn't expected him to slink off, as if avoiding her mother, but it did make things easier… she guessed.

"Come in here once your shoes are off," she called back just as Kagome moved to do that very thing.

The miko was glad to see no one else was in the kitchen, the dining room behind it, but her mother. She offered her a tentative smile as she took a seat just adjacent to the head of the table where the woman was, right to her right side. She clasped her hands in front of her, got comfortable, and took a deep breath in before speaking and let it out. Really, she was unsure of what awaited her for this… talk. But, she at least wanted to air out her behavior. "Sorry about this morning… I didn't mean to upset you."

"I'm not sure it's entirely your fault, truth be told. But, apology accepted." She smiled back briefly. "Are you alright?"

Kagome nodded, not surprised she'd asked. She knew this wasn't just about her well-being, though that was just how her mother was. "Yeah, I think so. Um… are you ok?"

The older woman sighed long and hard, but her gaze didn't leave her daughter's. "I'm surprised, a little shocked, and doing the best I can to adapt. But, I believe I'm alright. Given the nature of this situation, I'm sure it could be much worse.

"I suppose I imagined this whole youkai business was over with when the well sealed. This doesn't mean you have to go back, doesn't?"

"No, no," Kagome said, shaking her head. "No going back. That's over with, I promise."

"Good." She breathed a sigh of relief, palm flat on her chest as her eyes shut with the action. "I'm not sure I could go through that again. I know you didn't see it… but, it was very difficult for me to watch you go back over and over again… to have no way of knowing if you'd come back, if you'd…"

Kagome took her mother's hand then, squeezing it when her mother clasped it back. "I—."

"I understand it was something you had to do," she interrupted. "A mother's desire to protect her children weighs very little when it comes to the greater good, when it comes to matters such as destiny and fate. But, you have no idea how happy I was when it was over."

Kagome nodded, wondering how she'd never noticed how hard it had been for her mother when it had been so easy to see her pain when her father had died. Perhaps Kagome had been too caught up in her adventures, the drama; perhaps it was because she'd been gone for such long stretches at time that she hadn't had time to see how it wore on her. Souta, for his part, might not have seen it at all; if he had, he'd never said anything to her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know…" the younger woman whispered as she looked down at their joined hands.

"It's alright," she said with a brief smile, one that was full of tenderness and honesty. "This still can't be easy for you. You've suddenly been shoved into an awkward situation with a man you don't even know."

"Oh, but I do know him!" Kagome blurted.

"You do…? But…" She blinked a few times.

It occurred to Kagome just then how much about her time in the past she'd never told her mother about. When she'd come back from the feudal era she'd been heartbroken; loving Inuyasha had been a beautiful, wonderful, and fulfilling experience. All she'd ever wanted for him was to be happy. So… when she'd made the unselfish wish for his happiness… it had backfired on her, in a way. Kikyou was given new life, the soul they shared separated and completed, and the hanyou had made his choice. She'd been happy for him, Kagome still was. When you loved someone unconditionally it was natural, however painful, to let them go if that's what you had to do.

Sango had been furious, feeling all the things Kagome refused to feel at the time—all the things she'd allowed herself to feel once she was safe and tucked away at home in her room; it was a place she wasn't expected to smile or pretend she was alright.

She was ok now; she'd moved on and been with other men. In fact there'd been that one littler experiment with Eri when they'd been very drunk… So, yeah, six years gave her time to move on and not hurt anymore. She didn't hurt now. It didn't mean she hadn't loved him; it just meant enough time had passed that she was ok looking back on it fondly.

But, the point was… she'd been so torn up about it at the time that she'd hadn't talked to her mother about it. Sure, when she'd come back and caught up on homework there was a minute here or there to tell her what she'd been up to, but nothing really deep per se. And as time when on it never came up again, weirdly enough.

"Yeah," she started as he pulled her hands back and laid one arm over the other on the table. "Sesshoumaru is Inuyasha's half-brother. We met in the past a few times, fought a few enemies together, that kind of thing." Her mother didn't need to know he'd tried to kill her once. Ha, yeah, no.

Her mother narrowed her eyes, processing this information. "So… that youkai… he's well over five hundred years old?"

Kagome nodded slowly, not sure where her mother was going with this.

"Alright…" she allowed slowly. "I think I can handle that. I suppose it's easier given that he doesn't look a day over nineteen."

Kagome laughed softly, understanding. She'd never put much thought into it, but she supposed her mother was right. Sesshoumaru had always looked young, barely older than his brother. It would be above kind to say he looked twenty-five; at Kagome's fifteen, he'd looked more like a sixteen year-old. Perhaps five hundred years had added another three years to his near ageless appearance. Which, was good; Kagome certainly didn't want to look like a cougar at twenty-one. She could see just the kind of grin Eri would give her for nabbing a guy younger than her brother.

Yeah, no thanks.

"I want you to know I spoke to your grandfather," her mother went on. "He explained to me some of the circumstances surrounding this… situation." Her lips half twitched into a frown. "I'm not happy about it, given that you're not married to Sesshoumaru-san, but, I understand why he needs to stay in your room with you.

"I'm also not stupid either," she added. "Were it not for the fact that I love your grandfather very much for all he's done for us, trust him in ways many people wouldn't trust their in-laws… I'd be hard pressed not to knock him into next week with something blunt and heavy over this little fiasco."

Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Kagome couldn't help but stifle a laugh—nearly snorting. It was hard to imagine her mother doing harm to anyone, much less her grandfather. Perhaps even she had her limits when it came to calmed serenity.

Her mother smiled at the grin Kagome couldn't hold in.

"He's not a bad guy, mom," Kagome felt the need to tell her. "He's just been dealt a really bad card. And as messed up as it is, I'm kinda glad it happened. I might have a chance of finding my friends this way. I know Miroku and Sango are gone… but, I want to see Shippo again—Inuyasha too."

"I understand," she told her. "But, you mean to tell me he wasn't like this in the past?"

"No, not at all." Kagome shook her head. "His mother did this to him because he wouldn't mate and produce heirs for the Western Lands. I guess that'd be the western part of Japan now…" she explained poorly. "He's stuck like this until whoever he's in service to takes him on as a life partner—marries him, basically. Well, in youkai terms."

"His own mother?" she asked in disbelief. "His own mother turned him into property?" She stared at Kagome for a moment. "Horrible. I would never do that you or Souta, certainly not to force you into marriage. That is, if I had the ability to."

"It's pretty messed up. I'm not happy with the woman and I really wonder what Inuyasha thought of it all. I doubt he agreed to it. According to Sesshoumaru they were all on really good terms before he got stuck this way.

"I plan on trying to find her since Sesshoumaru thinks they're in Japan still. I'm going to make her break this spell, curse, whatever it is." Kagome sighed. "But, um, I want you to know I really appreciate you being so great about this. I know you've put up with some crazy stuff before… what with my trips into the past…

"And you're right, I didn't know how hard it was for you. I was too caught up to see it. I just always assumed you took everything in stride like some great serene angel of mercy or something."

Her mother laughed softly, covering her mouth with her hand as her eyes half shut. "I never imagined I was that bad."

Kagome grinned. "Well, I don't think it's bad. But, yeah, thanks. I do appreciate it."

The older woman nodded. "I believe it's a mother's job to take a number of things in stride. When her children have to do something she can't protect or stop them from doing, the best thing for her to do is support them.

"I will _always_ support you, Kagome."

It was then Kagome hugged her, wishing that Sesshoumaru's mother was more like her own. But then, she supposed she wouldn't have the chance to see her friends again—maybe—if the woman was.

After a long moment she pulled back and let the older woman press a kiss to her forehead. "I'm going to go to bed. It's getting to be that time and I've got work early tomorrow."

"Sleep well."

With and a final hug Kagome was off to her room. She was kind of sad she hadn't got to spend any time with Souta today, but she figured he'd forgive her given what had happened. Kagome would just have to find a way to make it up to him later; maybe she'd take him out to eat next week; too bad she'd blown a chunk of her pay eating out and avoiding her grandfather at home today.

When she finally made it into her room it was to the sight of Sesshoumaru sitting on her bed and still in the clothes he'd worn out for the day. She noticed her room had been tidied up; knowing that her mother never came in here anymore to do such tasks she could only come to the conclusion that her new resident had done it.

"Uh… thanks for cleaning up…" she said with some surprise as she met his gaze.

"There was little else to do."

"You can always read my books if you want." She pointed to the shelving above her desk. "Most of them are text books I've kept and nonfiction, but I've got a handful that aren't.

"You should also know you're free to use the TV or anything else in the house without asking anyone. If you get hungry or whatever and it's not supper or breakfast you can make it yourself."

He nodded. "Are you going to bed?"

"Yeah, we've got an early morning tomorrow," she told him as she went to dresser along the wall with the door. She pulled out a few items. "I'm going to change in the bathroom. You can grab whatever out of the box Souta brought in. I think there's a few PJ sets.

"We are going to have to go shopping soon though." She shut the drawer and faced him. "I think I can bribe my mother into giving me enough to get you a week's worth of clothes." It would require Kagome dipping into her savings; it was money she'd accumulated to eventually buy her own place. The younger Higurashi had made her mother gatekeeper for the stash, but she knew she'd make an exception for this. Sesshoumaru couldn't go around wearing her brother's stuff.

"If such actions suit you."

She had half a mind to once again tell him he had a say in the matter, but decided she wasn't up for the debate on humility and submission. She needed sleep. When she got out of the bathroom, changed and ready for bed, she was happy to see he'd slipped on some flannel pants with an abstract print on them.

She felt his eyes on her as she pulled back the bedding and turned on the light next to her nightstand. They were still on her as she moved across the room and switched off the overhead fixture.

"Is this Sesshoumaru sleeping with you, miko?"

"He is," she replied. "Unless you'd rather sleep on the floor. I'd prefer you didn't. My bed's big enough for the both of us." Deep down though… she felt apprehensive about sharing her bed with him. She wasn't afraid of the inuyoukai, but she wasn't used to him yet. The only time she'd ever shared a bed with someone was when she'd had a long-standing boyfriend. That took time; time for the benefit of her own comfort wasn't a luxury she had; it wasn't one he had. But, she wasn't about to force him to sleep on the hardwood just so it'd be easier for her. She wasn't that cruel. The floor got damned cold at night.

He nodded again, eyes shutting with the action before he stood up. By then she'd already slipped into bed. Her hand was poised on the lamp's switch as she waited for him to get in as well. She clicked it off; moments later she felt him press up behind her and curl his arms around her—his front to her back, his leg between her two, and his mouth against the back of her neck burrowing in her hair.

She stiffened for a brief moment, wondering if she should tell him he didn't have to be so close. But, once she heard that sound again, that not-purring purring, she decided to let it go. He was comfortable, right? That sound had to mean he was happy on some level. Knowing what he'd been through…

…she didn't have the heart to make him think, for even a second, that he shouldn't be right where he was.

* * *

><p>The next day found Kagome at work pouring over several stacks of paperwork she'd rather have nothing to do with at all. Once again, her boss had delegated her to desk duty, to sifting through reports and editing work on his colleagues'—her peers'—findings. She'd much rather be opening that new shipment with the rest of them, pulling back the packing and inspecting the artifacts from the dig site in northern Japan. She knew there were at least twenty new weapons to look over and study, and, she was sure she could come up with a few theories on just how old they were by looking at them.<p>

Stupid paperwork; stupid boss.

The shipment housed other things from the past, but Kagome had been hired specifically because she knew ancient weapons better than most people ten years her senior. Her boss, Dr. Himura, was in the same field. She half wondered if the asshole was intimidated by her knowledge; she wouldn't have been surprised, at any rate.

_Jerkface_.

"Higurashi-san," she heard to her right.

The sound of her name brought her out of her stupor; it caused her blink and nearly jump in reaction. Blue eyes shot to the very man she'd been thinking of; just barely, she took in his coal eyes, dark hair, and half tanned-skin. He wasn't ugly; Kagome had actually thought him fairly handsome in that Indiana Jones archaeologist kind of way when they'd first met. He always wore white dress shirts with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and black slacks with a simple belt—sometimes khakis. But, the shine had quickly worn off when she realized just what a complete prick he was. She didn't want to get fired, so it was natural she found herself not complaining about whatever agonizing work he shoved at her like an intern.

"Yes, Himura-sensei?" she replied, trying to keep the reluctant sigh out of her voice.

He dropped a thick file on her desk. "Make sure you go through that and have it on my desk by the end of the day. I want the usual notes."

Kagome stared down at it a moment before flipping it open to look over its contents; her eyes scanned and she blinked several times, realizing just what this was. Those dark blues snapped over to her boss. "But, Himura-sensei… I've already made notes on this file…"

"Not sufficient ones. Do it again."

Kagome's blood boiled. Do it again? _Do it again?_ Just what had been wrong with the job she'd done before? "Can I ask why you weren't satisfied?" she hazarded, careful to keep the tension out of her voice.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "If you can't figure it out, Higurashi-san, then perhaps you need to reevaluate why you're here."

Her jaw flexed; blue eyes darkened further. She could feel the hand on her thigh tightening into the fist. A pink of hum of energy flared within her, and, she did well to keep the light wanting to break free restrained.

It was then she heard a deep growl within the folds of her mind, a rumble like that of a wolf on the verge of pouncing and eviscerating an enemy to shreds. In a way, it reminded her a lot of Inuyasha.

Wait…

"_Sesshoumaru… did you just… _growl_?"_

"…_I do _not_ like this man."_

"_Yeah, well, I'm not very fond of him either,"_ she admitted to him in her own head, nearly jumping at the way the tattoo prowled along her skin like a caged beast. No, he wasn't happy at all. _"But, the bastard's my boss, so I have to put up with him."_

"_Or,"_ he edged, rumble in his voice, _"you could give This Sesshoumaru permission to bury him beyond the reach of the seven hells."_

If she weren't so amused at the prospect she might have been annoyed; part of her couldn't tell if he was joking, or, serious. She liked to think it was a little of both. Had he even been this direct in the past? She wasn't sure; maybe it had something to do with the binding. Maybe he felt the need to protect her? Probably.

"_You know, if I didn't think that might be your version of a joke I'd be a little irritated."_ That was about the time the tattoo stiffened and she actually felt curiosity from him. _"But, to answer you, no, you can't kill the man who writes my paychecks."_ She couldn't be sure, but she thought her heard him huff in indignation; there was… disappointment?

"Higurashi-san" her boss inquired, brow rising. "Is there a problem?"

"No," she bit off, a little less angry thanks to the inuyoukai. "I'll get it done."

"Good." And then he was gone, leaving her to herself.

"_Are you… are you pouting because I won't let you kill my boss?"_ She couldn't believe it even as she let the grin come over her face.

"_This Sesshoumaru does not pout_,_"_ he growled in warning_, "He laments on what he cannot do, but he never pouts."_

"If you say so," she murmured aloud, going back to work. He was so pouting. Soooooo pouting.

The day passed on in relative quiet; she took lunch, asked Sesshoumaru if he wanted to eat (he refused), and then stayed late to take a look (finally) at the shipments. Just as she suspected, there were at least fifteen weapons she could accurately date within a timeframe of several thousand years. She wouldn't know until she could study them further and send them off for carbon dating; however, it looked promising. And while she hadn't been happy to look at them last, she was happy she'd gotten a gander at them all by herself.

Sometimes… sometimes she felt like she was separated from the pack of scholars when Himura did this to her, but she supposed it all worked out in the wash. In another year or two she wouldn't have to put up with him anymore anyway. Another university would, hopefully, offer her a position; she'd get a grant and work in peace. And she'd never treat her assistants the same way, she told herself, thinking it might not be such a bad idea to let her inuyoukai kill the pest.

Inuyasha likely would agree with him. That thought alone made her want to laugh as she walked home, leather bag in hand. When she'd left the two brothers they'd been on decent terms; it hadn't been perfect, but they weren't trying to kill one another by then. She wondered how that had changed over the years when she'd gone home. She couldn't imagine them watching TV together like her and Souta, but it had to have gotten better for them.

"So, what kind of relationship do you and Inuyasha have? Or, well, _had_…" Kagome asked the man next to her as they strode along.

Sesshoumaru's hands were in his jean pockets; the action pulled back on the jacket he wore and up on the shirt under it where it hung around his waist and hips. "We were no longer attempting to kill the other," he told her, thinking that might be enough.

"Yeah, well, I _knew that_. I mean, did you guys hang out or anything?" she looked up at him.

"Our relationship grew to lack animosity as time went on, yes. I would not go so far as to say we 'hung out', as you put it, but we were in well enough spirits to converse without the desire to slit the others' throat."

Kagome chuckled. "Yeah, I guess Inuyasha has this way of pissing people off. I imagine it's not too hard for him to do that to you with your history."

He grunted, sort of, but did not vocalize his agreement. "You are still not speaking to your grandfather," he observed.

"Well, yeah, I'm upset with him. Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad you're here or anything. I'm just pissed off he didn't talk to me about this beforehand." She shrugged. "Marriage is kind of a big choice, you know?"

"Mating is an equally big choice, as you say," he intoned.

"Yeah… Can you even get divorced?" Once again, she was looking at him. This time, she tried to catch his eyes, seeking to internally know what he felt. But, it was hard. Sesshoumaru couldn't block her from knowing what he felt, but it seemed as though he'd gotten very good at not feeling anything.

"You can breaking the mating agreement, but it is a difficult process."

She nodded, once again thinking about this whole situation with him. Her eyes looked down. "Is it painful…?"

"Yes."

She bit her lip, again thinking. "Well… in theory… if we… ah…"

"_No_," he said suddenly.

It was then she did feel something strike through her from him; it was a combination of what felt like fear, refusal, and pain. It hit her so hard she nearly tripped and stopped walking altogether; her hand reached for the wall on her right to steady herself from the shock. "Uh… why?" she asked, knowing he knew what she'd been about ask before by the way he cut her off. His hand was immediately on her shoulder and waist, had been there before her hand even touched the wall just so she wouldn't fall.

She met his gaze slowly, curious about the pain and fear she'd felt. Amber met cobalt blue and she blinked at their close proximity.

"Because…" he said sternly, "your death would be the only result."

* * *

><p>Tender, however cool, amber hues gazed down at the mirror in her hands. The woman watched carefully as the scene unfolded before her, as the male inuyoukai steadied the miko and spoke. Deft digits lifted and touched the side of her face; she sighed before allowing the image to blacken—for the reflective surface to return and show nothing more than her own pale features.<p>

The organ in her chest beat heavily, aching and constricting with hope. Hope… such an alien emotion to her. The inuyoukai had held out for such a long time, carefully waiting… watching. Each time, a piece of that hope died; each time the failure of her own actions presented itself, regret slipped a wedge further and further into the organ under her breast.

Pitiful pride, where had it gotten her?

"You playing peeping tom again, Oba-chan?"

She didn't look up at the hanyou; she didn't even scold him for the awful nickname he sometimes shot off. Her heart, though heavy, held a brief hope it hadn't in a while. "It was your idea, was it not?"

"Yeah, well… she's a better choice than most. Better than the ones you've had for a while."

She snorted and then finally looked at him. The chair she sat in swiveled as she turned it to face him across her desk. Silvery-white strands to match his fell over her shoulders, down her back, and coiled in a pool behind her in the seat; some of them fell to the floor when she hadn't been looking. Thankfully, they didn't catch on the wheels as they did from time to time. Grace was a strong suit of hers; however, even the most graceful were entirely ungraceful at times.

"Is that an insult, adoptive son of mine?" she asked just when she set the looking glass on the desk face down and then allowed both arms to settle on the arm rests as she sat back.

He frowned at her, seeing right through the veneer she presented to the world. He saw right through to anguish, the pain, the ache for the result in what she'd done for pride and stubbornness. "Damnit, we did the right thing this time. Stop doubting yourself. The bastard's in good hands. Trust me."

She hummed, not entirely agreeing or denying his response—the insistence that he held that this time it would work out, that this time she wouldn't have to watch him suffer. "Have you still managed to keep the others away?"

"The fox ain't happy about it, but he gets it." He shrugged. "The rest don't have a problem. But, you know if she travels out the territory…"

"She won't."

"_You_ hope she doesn't; I have my doubts when it comes to how driven the wench can be to get answers."

"Yes, I know…"

Hope, really, was all she had. Hope that this time it really would be different; that the miko in possession of her son, Kagome, would finally be the one to free Sesshoumaru from the folly of her actions.

The next was the hope that he would eventually find a way forgive her.

* * *

><p><strong>AN :: <strong>Hope you guy had a happy Turkey Day—at least those of you who celebrate the joy of thankfulness and gorging one's self with pastries, meaty goodness, and carbs. For those of you who don't… I weep. Food babies are awesome during the holidays. Also, a Merry Christmas to you all as well since I won't poke in another update until January 1st.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I usually write a few ahead, but this one is actually my most recent as I've had classes keeping me occupied with essays and short stories. Blarg. Hopefully I'll get chapter six done before the first of the year, but if not… at least you know why. Considering I'll have time off from school when this semester is over…. Chances are good for writing getting done.

I'm also working on the next book of my original series The Steam Runner. I'm hoping to have it out by February at the latest. Deadlines, it seems, are something I'm always fighting with—writing or not. Love ya!

—**Blade**


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